East of the Crescent Moon
by Coilfoot
Summary: Southeast China: the dominion of the brazen maltese tigress. Ousted from her home by some upstart human priest and his mirror, the weakened demoness must flee to Japan; with no friends or allies and dogged by bad luck, she must survive this land she barely remembers... and the taiyoukai she thought was left in her past. Antihero!OCxSess; gore/lemons. Updated Saturdays. R
1. Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright

_**East of the Crescent Moon**_

**A/N: I apologize in advance if anyone acts non-canon; I am an Inuyasha fan, but haven't seen a vast majority of the series. I have, however, read wikis and fanfictions and done period research out the wazoo so I think I have a pretty firm grasp on most of the characters. The rating is to be safe, as I tend to get a little dark and graphic with my storytelling, though you might not see it right away. Also, I'm kind of making this up as I go along, so any reviews including ideas might be used! Please, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any parts thereof. **

_Chapter One: Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright_

The gallant ship was breaking apart, its mast snapped in two and savagely whipping in every direction under the vicious ministrations of the monstrous fish. The yokai gleefully surfaced its second and third heads, bulbous and covered in eyes, jagged mouths devouring the delicious men as they fought or attempted to flee. The darkness was only broken by the lightning thrown down by the heavens, illuminating the horror scene in vivid relief, all rainwater and guts and mucus, the groaning of the wood and the screams of terror, all to the mindless whipping of the waves against the world.

She had been watching the storm's waves, trying very hard to avoid seasickness and chastising herself for such a human weakness, when the boat shuddered and heaved nearly over its keel. Having been unbalanced to begin with, she didn't stand a chance and was tumbled unceremoniously overboard with a curse.

The water was hard as concrete and horribly salty. The acrid taste filled her mouth and she lost the battle she had been trying to fight on the deck, feeling her body wretch and spewing forth her lunch into the ocean around her. She fought for breath and clawed her way to the surface, drawing in only half as much air as she required before being battered back under the waves. She spun and felt her head connect with the hull of the ship with a sharp thud. Her body went slack.

oOxXxOo

She tried to open her eyes, fighting the crust and salt that encased them. She became aware of the fact that she seemed to be being dragged by the back of her collar through the water and began to struggle violently, snarling and spluttering, tearing her hanfu against the grip of whatever was holding her. She turned in the water and growled… at a piece of flotsam to which her ruined hanfu was now attached.

She felt rather foolish, and now clad in only her underclothes, began to survey her surroundings while she treaded the water.

The sun was fairly high in the sky, leading her to believe that it was late morning or early afternoon – an alarming prospect, as the sun had only recently set as the storm had hit. The now calm sea expanded in every direction from her, no trace of the ship or land to be found in any direction.

She clambered weakly onto the flotsam, which sank to just under the surface of the waves with her weight. She shook her body to rid herself of what water she could, and felt the heat of the sun begin to dry her clothes as she took account of her situation.

Her clothing, beyond what she was wearing at this moment – was lost. Her trunk carrying her weapons and her favorite jifu, as well as her money, was lost. She had purged her stomach of its contents during her catapult into the sea, and had no food to speak of. She didn't know where she was beyond "somewhere between China and Japan," which was not exactly…well, exact.

And she was growing thirstier by the minute.

Salt coated her throat and her body, itchy and crusty, and sat in her stomach like a toad. She growled in discontent and leaned over the side of the flotsam, heaving dryly. She propped herself on her stomach and watched the water below her, the reflection of the sun blinding from any other direction.

_I guess I'll just have to wait for the sun to move a little more to know which way is East. Damn that priest. I could be reclining in my favorite tree in the glade… hanging low over the water… fresh water, not this salt garbage. _

She stewed in her thoughts, waiting for the sun to show her the way forward. She would have to swim it, relying on what strength she could recall and save for the journey. She knew that if she returned east, even to find another ship for passage, the priest would find her and use that damn mirror to steal the rest of her soul. He had been sniffing around the very port she had left from, following the call of her soul. If he wasn't still there, waiting to see if she was bluffing, then he'd already be on his way to Japan. She had no choice – go where she knew her enemy was, or flee to an unfamiliar land in the hopes that he wasn't there yet.

The tigress had attempted to fight him at first, in a long and difficult struggle that nearly ended in her success. The priest had fled from her fury, but somehow had acquired a mirror of indeterminate origin that he had attempted to use to steal her soul away. He had nearly succeeded, taking a portion of her soul before she had blinded him with a swipe of her claws, knocking the mirror away and giving her a chance to flee.

She hated that man with every ounce of her being. Every fiber of her body quivered to end his miserable life, to take back her place as the Tiger Empress of the Southeast. To be bested by a human! It shook her down to her marrow, the idea of such a powerful Yaoguai fleeing her own castle from a priest. It was laughable. She had destroyed thousands of her own kind, tens of thousands of humans who had dared to oppose her had been crushed and burned, and yet here she was, floating in an ocean, stripped to her underclothes and dying of thirst.

She wondered which of her enemies had laid siege to the castle, or if one of her own men had decided to take it for themselves upon learning of her departure.

_It matters little, cub. You obviously have softened since your conquests. Perhaps if you had taken a mate, he would have helped you destroy this gnat of a human. Perhaps served as a distraction or even a substitute for the mirror while you devoured that priest alive. _

She snorted. When she had been Empress of the Southeast, she had little need of a mate. She had thought the idea useless, giving one of those power-hungry pairs of eyes an excuse to claim what she had wrested from the claws of lords before her in the warpath. Only now, when she was out of options, did the thought even cross her mind.

_No matter. I shall return and claim what is mine, and I shall burn the very mountains themselves if they refuse to bow to me. _

She purred in satisfaction at the thought, and briefly closed her eyes to imagine it.

After some time had passed, she noticed that the sun was climbing higher in the sky. Having determined her headway, she gathered her breath and began preparing herself to swim, when she spied a flash of silver near her makeshift island. She abandoned all pretense of preparation and dove in after it, snatching the unsuspecting fish in her fangs. It struggled valiantly, but she clambered aboard her flotsam and crushed its head in her hands while she greedily devoured it. She sucked up its juices, quenching her thirst and slightly abating her hunger.

Its flimsy bones were destroyed and devoured as well, not even the fins left as evidence of its existence. She licked her cracked lips, wishing for more, but remembering her goal. She leapt from the flotsam in a graceful arc, landing in the water with a practiced dive, preparing her body for the long and possibly fatal swim to Japan's shores.

oOxXxOo

She swam on through the day and the afternoon, and the morning of the next day. She had started off at a very quick pace, but during the small morning hours had slowed to barely more than treading water. Her breathing was harsh and laborious, her body sore and her spirit flagging. She held her head above the water, but barely, and water lapped against her panting mouth and up her nose, causing her to sneeze and cough it free.

She had called upon her reserves of strength come the 24-hour mark of her journey, the exhausted tigress fighting the water for breath in her lungs and for her very life.

It was nearly dark again when she finally sighted land, and a small burst of energy pushed her forward; however, it was farther than it had initially seemed, and she soon began feeling her head dip below the waves, sleep attempting to take her. She would breathe in the water and snap awake, bursting through the water in a fury and renewed desperation.

When she had finally reached the shore, she trembled and attempted to drag herself out of the water. She had only just gotten her torso onto the sand before she collapsed in a wet heap, dead to the world and gasping.

**A/N: So. She made it. Lol like I'd kill off an OC in the first chapter. Silly readers! In case we have any questions, I am going to answer them here. Hanfu, jifu – these are the traditional Chinese dress of the era. Yaoguai is the Chinese version of Youkai/Yokai, since the Japanese word was borrowed from Chinese language (the Japanese-specific word is 'mononoke' but surely you already knew that.) She is named, but you just don't know it yet, and I do have an idea who I want to pair her with in the long run. She will have character progression, as it's hard to care about such a hard and unfeeling lady. She is a Tiger demon, specifically the not-quite-proven-to-exist-but-is-genetically-possible Maltese tiger that is most commonly reported in the Fujian province of China, which is on the southeast coast of mainland China. I hope you enjoyed the pilot chapter, as there's more to come.**


	2. Beautiful Mustachioed Man, or Maybe Lady

_Chapter 2: The Beautiful Mustachioed Man, or Maybe Lady_

**A/N: Ah, who cares if I get any reviews? This chapter is a little lighter in nature, and explains how she knows Japanese among other things, as well as setting up the introduction of some canon characters that will appear in the next chapter. Also, the reason she's weaker than she should be is due to that whole soul-stolen thing if my clever readers didn't surmise that already.**

She awoke to the trilling of the cicadas, a song of the heat and mates. She growled at their shrill noises, and opened her silver eyes.

_Oh. Right. _

She had somehow crawled up further up the shore away from the water in her sleep, curling in on herself to keep warm as she had recovered. Feeling renewed but stiff, she sat up, causing small drifts of salt to detach from her clothes. Licking the cracked surface of her lips, the tigress stretched and stood, catching a big whiff of her odorous self with a grimace.

She set off into the forest, brash and unashamed of her attire and appearance, with a hunter's intent.

On any other day, the forest would have welcomed her, allowing the tigress to blend and slink, drinking in the scents and knowledge of the trees. Padded feet would have silently carried her, a floating apparition of ghostly malice, to haunt her prey. She would torment them, allowing them to see perhaps the tip of her tail, or talk themselves into believing they had been seeing things when they spied her red demon eyes within the brush.

How she enjoyed it, reveled and rolled in the splendor of being apex, queen, feared above all and bowing to none, spending her hunger in pursuit of intelligent prey. There was little satisfaction in killing an animal, the fear dilute and blood thin. She most enjoyed the succulent flesh of a fellow demon, a lovely boar demon perhaps, who fights with a fervor and anger matched by little else. She loved sinking her fangs into the unyielding flesh, her blood singing with the fire and fight, her rough tongue stripping the flesh from the bones in the pungent odor of terror.

She purred to herself when she would find a lone human in her midst. These she played with the most, letting them think they had outrun her, playing with their dull senses and their soft bodies that tasted of sweet pork. She enjoyed the shrill screams of the females, sometimes finding a smaller human within their bellies. The men were worth more for their fight, their gall and their ultimate breaking. Sometimes she would bring their weapons home as a trophy, finding with delight that some had been in possession of powerful artifacts – whether they knew or not was irrelevant.

She strolled through the forest, somehow feeling unwelcome but pushing it away with her arrogant confidence. Fairly shortly, she happened upon the scent of a hot spring, with the unmistakable stench of a sweaty male human. She delicately curled up her lip and began her approach. Her hunt brought her closer to the human, and she soon spied his pile of belongings, carelessly heaped on a rock.

He began to sing then, a hoarse croaking song accompanied with splashing and drunken giggling, which alerted her to the fact that this one… had been drinking. Quite heavily, in fact. In the face of his stench and his drunkenness, she lost her appetite, preferring clarity in her fear than puking and stumbling. She began to inspect the pile of human things – some of it was useless to her, but she did find some things of value. His clothing, a worn and middling quality kosode and hakama, were far too big and reeked of sweat, but this was better than prancing about in underclothes. His sword had been left as well as a pouch of coins and some foodstuffs and tobacco – as well as some less-than-imaginative half-finished paintings of nude women. She scoffed and gathered his clothing, money, sword and the painting supplies into a bundle before spiriting it away into a copse of trees not far off.

She stripped to her bare body and began the glorious transformation into her true self – but could not finish it. She growled and settled for a smaller version, missing her blue flames and her fearsome crimson eyes. The slate-palette tiger turned and trotted jauntily to the hot spring, creeping up to the water's edge behind the hapless human. She let out a hot breath on the back of the human's neck, reveling the sudden freezing and slow turn before showing her fangs and snarling.

She watched with mirth as the human bolted from the spring, cursed at the knowledge of his missing weapon, snatched up what little he had left and streaked away in naked, dripping terror. She bent down and sniffed the water with her heightened senses, noting with pleasure that he had the good sense to not void his bowels in the water. She might have had to follow and kill him anyway in retribution, leaving his body for the crows.

The tigress turned into her human form, to her own chagrin, and retrieved the bundle of clothing from the trees. She placed them next to the pool – well within her sight – and gingerly sank into the warm waters. She purred in content, watching the water with half-lidded eyes as the salt and stink was scrubbed away by the bubbling waters.

When she was satisfied with her current state of affairs, wishing for some of her scented oils and salts, she began to scrub the clothing clean as well. She left the clothing to dry on a rock after carefully scouting the area for large or intelligent life. Finding neither, she balefully began to stalk a deer, bored but hungry.

She returned to the water, belly full to bursting and her front coated with blood. She rinsed off in the spring once more and sunned on the rock with her steaming clothes, reflecting.

She had been to Japan once before, as a cub, accompanying her father as he called upon an old war buddy, something Taisho. He had drilled her in Japanese while they sparred, chastising her for mispronunciation or lack of concentration either on the language or her enemy. She had ended up not needing the depth of knowledge he had given her, having been ignored for most of the trip due to her age.

She turned onto her back, allowing the sun's rays to warm her belly.

She had met a few of the nobility's children, but remembered none of them clearly if at all. They had probably been dogs and the like, of no concern to her. She did remember trouncing a panther cub that had presumed to try and make her bow, but that hadn't ended well – the cub had run to her mother, who in turn told her father, who trounced her in turn. It had been a very painful lesson to learn – if you attack someone, finish them. Send a message beyond reproach.

Had she been composed of a different cloth, it probably would have taught her to be respectful or lenient to others' wishes as her father was, but the hard-hearted cub learned little beyond ferocity.

She stretched languidly, finally deigning to don the now-passable apparel she had swiped, tying the sash a bit tighter to fit her slender frame. She attached the sword to her hip after inspecting it, finding it chipped but of high-quality steel, the pommel still shiny with lack of use.

_The fool probably used it to cut through weeds or something, an heirloom of his father's gone to waste in the hands of an amateur. _

She tucked the pouch of money into her sash with a pat, along with the brush and ink stone in a small strip of cloth. She looked at her reflection in the water, noting with pleasure that the dark navy-and-charcoal pattern of the hakama set off the high color of her cheeks nicely, making her mirror eyes stand out against the curtain of black hair. The kosode was a plain white, save for a spattering of navy leaves from the right shoulder tapering toward the pommel of the sword and faint pit stains from its previous owner. She surmised the pattern probably would have been more vertical on the larger man, but since she had to tuck quite a bit, it made a much more interesting pattern this way.

She strapped the sandals to her feet and began walking eastward once more, hoping to happen upon a road heading anywhere and maybe come up with a new plan.

oOxXxOo

It was not long indeed before she had found a path and followed it toward wherever it led. When it led her to a portside town, she headed straight for the public notice board. When she found what was on it, she wanted to scream in frustration.

There, pinned merrily to the board, was her.

She peered carefully around her to see if anyone was watching and looked closer at the poster.

"Caution," it exclaimed in Chinese and Japanese. "Powerful Chinese tiger demon Lixue is believed to have come to Japan. Controls blue fire and known to have powerful sway over males. Has little to no care for innocent life. If spotted, send missive to Monk Taizu. Reward offered if information leads to capture."

She squeaked in indignation at the pot-bellied tiger illustration that accompanied the flyer. The color was off, making her look more like a washed-out ink color instead of a proud blue-gray. Blue flames surrounded the tiger, and her face was squished into the space that the frivolous artist did not paint flames. Her face was kind of accurate, at least getting her markings correct – a crimson hue, it portrayed an elongated and hollow diamond on her forehead, accompanied by two strokes from the bottom and intersecting a half-circle. Small text on the bottom also noted that she could be identified by the faint black tiger stripes on her shoulder blades up to her neck.

Checking again for witnesses, she drew the ink stone from her hakama and spit on it, grinding a little until some ink formed. She then carefully dipped her brush and drew a mustache on her likeness, turning it into a very beautiful mustachioed man that the poster described, also adding a small consonant to the end of the name to make it masculine.

She stepped back a bit, admiring her handiwork. If she didn't look too closely, her work nearly matched what the poster had on it originally.

She wiped off the brush and ink stone, tucking them back into her hakama in a swift motion. That would do for now. Feeling satisfied with her handiwork but nervous that the priest might still be lurking, she vacated the portside village on a thin path that she hoped led to some backwater with the scent of prey.


	3. The Music of Brutality

_Chapter 3: The Music of Brutality_

"_I'll break you down, I'll take you down, down. Fill you with sadness, make your life madness… I'm stuck in a bad way, and I'm gonna make you pay for it." – "All the World" by Fauxliage_

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to MechWarriorANON because their review made me laugh. Enjoy! Also in this chapter: the first lines of dialogue in the story!**

Lixue scented the air, nostrils flaring and eyes dilating to twin slits of bloodlust.

The aroma was getting stronger.

She had picked up the scent of boar demon, the breeze's news causing her to salivate in anticipation of the fight. The slight twinge of acid that had accompanied it had piqued her interest, but did nothing to abate her sudden hunger. The pitiable deer she had devoured earlier had restored her to nearly full strength. She doubted she'd be at her peak until she could reclaim her soul from that priest and his mirror.

Her feet had quickened their pace, not caring that the scent led her astray from the path. She had soon broken into a jog, and then a run, as the scent grew stronger and more tantalizing before her. Darting to and fro amongst the trees, leaping the brooks in pursuit of her nose, not even noticing when she had begun to shed her human form in the rush and joy of the hunt.

The demon tiger scented fear and blood and anger, pushing the predator to begin a mad sprint to engage her quarry. Lixue exploded out of the trees into the clearing, halting with a snarl to sight her enemy in the tangle of scents surrounding her.

The massive boar squealed in a rage, tusks shooting forth massive vines to curl and snap, thorns to sprout, leaves to explode in a flurry of screams and a fine mist of blood. Lixue roared her challenge to the beast, blue flames spurting from her body to cloak her in fury and hatred of her foe; it shook its mane and stomped, roots emanating from the cloven hoof toward the tigress.

She arched her back and leapt, claws cloaked in blue, slashing a path through the grasping roots. She landed only barely upon the ground, using her momentum to leap again with fangs and claws outstretched. The boar turned and met her in the air, the two giants clashing and twisting. She clamped her jaws on the boar's shoulder, sinking her claws into its side, ears stiffly held back and body tensed to hold the creature down. The boar demon squealed in anger, ducking its body and twisting its neck to gore her stomach with its tusks. She released it and attempted to leap away, finding her legs grasped by the uncommon vines called forth by the boar. The boar used her distraction as she attempted to escape to leap away, turning its rear in the air to land facing her. She flared up in defense of the vines, burning them away and regaining her footing in time to spy the boar begin its charge. She snarled and dodged out of the way, allowing the boar to continue its charge without meeting her and smashing into the temple behind her instead. The boar shook the debris from its snout and focused on her again, wrapping itself in bark to aid against her claws.

The boar lurched and braced itself against the ground, the dirt exploding to reveal a wave of roots; the sturdy roots began to propel the boar forward, and Lixue prepared to meet its onslaught with a fire wall of her own – but she could do little more than flare and was forced to leap out of the way. She had paused too long in her attempt to use her yokai, allowing the boar's fangs to grasp her ankle, leaving painful gashes as it wrenched free of her flesh. She fell to the ground, rolling to her feet to meet the boar once more as the wave reversed in direction, confused and angry at her inability to control the flames as she should, when she heard a cry of "WIND SCAR!" and the boar kind of disappeared from its perch in an explosion of wind and light. She heard its body thud into the ground and its scream of pain that accompanied it, using this opportunity to leap in the direction she felt its aura and sinking her fangs into the unmistakable stink of boar.

It began to thrash and managed to catch her cheek with one of the swipes of its hooves, but she held fast to her prey, closing her eye when its feet would get too close. She allowed her flames to spread to its body, redoubling its agonized screams and attempts at escape, but she only sank her fangs deeper into the side of its neck, seeking the carotid artery in the midst of the pleasure of fear-tainted blood and the aroma of burning flesh and wood.

Soon its angry squeal had been reduced to strained panting and gurgles as the boar lost blood. Its mouth was coated in a pink froth, body charred and curling away, its angry eyes becoming flat and glassy as it suffocated in her mouth. Just the way she liked it.

She was aware of mortals gathering around the spectacle, warning them away from her kill with snarls and a thrash of her tail. They maintained a respectful distance, soft sobbing and unnatural stillness accompanying their eyes.

When the boar had given a final, shuddering groan and closed its eyes, she released it and began her feast, flames receding into her body. The flesh tasted a bit rancid, even for a demon, but she still preferred it to lunching on the mortals around her. She swallowed a large chunk of rib meat, feeling the slimy meat ooze down her throat, with mixed satisfaction. She then noticed, a little late perhaps, a very loudly-dressed hanyou perched in front of her nose and glaring at her. She lifted her head only slightly, huffing at him in disdain and putting her ears back in warning. She noted a human female behind him, tensely holding a bow, and a young fox youkai as well.

"Inuyasha, the tiger just swallowed the shard!" the woman cried, lifting an arrow to the bow and causing the hanyou to stand brazenly before her, brandishing a rather ridiculously proportioned sword with fur around the pommel.

"Give us the shard, and you'll live!" the dog-eared hanyou shouted.

Even though she had no idea what he was talking about, Lixue curled her lip at him. "I haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about, _hanyou._ This kill is mine. You will leave." She punctuated her words with a snarl, small bits of flame beginning to resurface up her spine.

"Keh. Don't play stupid! Give us the jewel shard! Last chance, demon." When she growled in refusal, he leapt toward her, only to be swatted away by a massive paw.

"Inuyasha! It's reached her stomach!" The woman cried, letting loose an arrow towards Lixue. She left her kill with anger and ducked under the arrow, leaping toward the woman and the kit with intent to smash them beneath her paws, when the hanyou leapt up from the ground where she had swatted him with a yell. She twisted in the air to avoid the anticipated sword strike, but it never came – instead, the hanyou had noticed her change in course and opted for a slug to the gut.

She yowled as his surprisingly well-timed fist met with her stomach, landing with as much grace as she could muster, back arched and eyes clenched as her body began to heave. The tigress couldn't hold in the strange meat in the face of the punch and began to expel it from her body in a fuming mess, bile coating her lips.

She recoiled as the red-clad hanyou – Inuyasha, she surmised – leapt in the middle of and began digging through her expulsion with little regard for her stomach acid.

"Kagome, where is it?" He yelled at the woman, who squinted a little before pointing at a strip of flesh. Inuyasha sank his arm into the flesh, pulling out what seemed to be a bit of pink glass from its quivering mass, coated in blood and bile.

The woman, or perhaps Kagome, cheered a little and ran forward to grab it from Inuyasha, pulling out a large semi-sphere that seemed to be made of the same stuff before fusing the shard to its bigger cousin.

"What is that, human?" She queried, all malice gone as she sniffed in curiosity. Inuyasha apparently was having none of it, though, and stepped between them with a scowl on his face and his hand on his hilt.

"Not any closer, got it?"

"Inuyasha, I don't think he knew he had a shard," the kit piped up.

Lixue's tail twitched. "I am no male."

"Oh. Well _she_ didn't know, then."

"Shut it, Shippou!" the hanyou snapped.

"Don't yell at him, Inuyasha! He didn't do anything wrong!" Kagome countered, stamping her foot.

"Then keep the brat quiet, will ya?!"

The two descended into bickering, and Lixue seemed to have been forgotten. Sighing at the spectacle before her, Lixue stood and began to walk away with a tiger's easy grace. She had no desire to finish her meal of the putrid boar whose flesh seemed to have been tainted by that pink shard, her appetite was forgotten and her stomach remained uneasy. She would simply have to find a meal elsewhere, at a different time.

oOxXxOo _Later that night, Inuyasha's group _oOxXxOo

Shippou yawned, tiny fangs glinting in the firelight as he snuggled in Kagome's arms. "Kagome, when are Miroku and Sango coming back?"

She smiled down at the kit. "As soon as Sango learns more about that ancient demon slayer's technique she heard about."

"Oh, yeah." The two sat in companionable silence for a while longer.

"Kagome?"

"Hmm?"

"Which technique was that again?"

"I think she called it bone-binding."

"Oh."

"Will you two shut up already and get some sleep?" Inuyasha's voice came down from the trees. "I can't keep watch with you yammerin' down there."

Crickets resumed their sleepy chorus, punctuated by the occasional snap of a settling ember, beneath the inky canvas of the night sky.

"Kagome?"

"Oh for the love of—" a rustle of leaves and protesting branches marked the departure of the hanyou.

"Yeah Shippou?"

"That tiger today… do you think we'll see her again?"

"I don't know, Shippou. Why are you so interested in her?"

"I think she isn't from around here. She didn't seem to know anything about the shards."

"You're probably right. Maybe she's from China."

"She looked weird for a tiger, too. I've never seen a gray one before."

"Have you seen any tigers before?"

"Not really. But I've seen pictures."

The sleepy silence returned, and soon the two fell soundly asleep.

Inuyasha had moved to just within earshot of the pair, should anything happen, and was only half-listening. The idea that the tigress might not be from here did not sit well with him. Should she decide that she, too, wanted the shards, she now knew where to find a sizeable chunk – right around a slender human neck that had a habit of running off without him.

He tossed his hair over his shoulder and glared at a tree trunk. If only she didn't need to keep going back to school, they might be further along on the jewel shards than they were. The fact that they had to keep turning around to go back to the well – where he spent several days in the exciting world of sitting – always made his skin itch.

oOxXxOo

Lixue crouched in the brush, carefully upwind of the hanyou to keep her scent concealed. The fair breeze bode well for the tiger as she watched this odd group, listening as they conversed and watching with patient eyes. She couldn't decide if she wanted to know more about the jewel or have a tasty kit snack, despite the chase that would surely ensue from the hanyou and his screeching human companion.

She quickly scrapped the snack idea when she caught sight of the extreme fluff in the kit's tail, making the trouble too much for his meager meat. She watched with interest as the human snuggled up with the demon, almost as a mother would with her young.

_What a pointless affection, _she thought to herself. _He will outlive her by a lifetime and again. Why spend such effort on a mortal? _

The very fact that she questioned the worthlessness of a mortal made her angry. _Of course he would. He's a wayward kit and doesn't know any better. Once he wises up he'll surely devour her, as he should._ She nodded firmly.

oOxXxOo

Kagome didn't know why, but she felt as though she were being watched. When she opened her eyes, finding a pair of silver orbs staring in kind, she shrieked, launching Shippou off of her lap and causing Inuyasha to drop out of the tree he had been snoozing in.

She put a hand on her pounding heart as the woman before her continued to sit, watching her with a focused gaze. Inuyasha pounced before her protectively, before a sniff of his nose told him that this was the very same tiger from yesterday.

"What do you want?" Inuyasha asked forcefully but without anger.

Lixue continued to sit, staring down her nose at the hanyou. "I wish to know more about this jewel."

"Why should we tell you?"

"I am curious."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at her.

She straightened her mouth into a thin line. "If it helps your insecurities, in exchange for the information I won't eat her. Or the shards."

Kagome gasped. "What? Eat me?!"

"I said I _wouldn't _eat you." The demon huffed.

"I'd like to see ya try!"

"This is not a productive area of conversation. Will you tell me what I want to know or do I need to go elsewhere?"

Kagome spoke over Inuyasha's assertion that she go elsewhere with "Of course we'll tell you. But first tell us your name."

"Lixue."

oOxXxOo

Lixue reclined in the nest she had created for herself, wondering at her strange situation. The oddly open miko Kagome had suggested a game of information, answering one question from the youkai in return to an answer to one of her questions. It was in this fashion that she learned what she had wanted to know and revealed the story of her conquest and eventual flight from China and the mirror-bearing priest. Kagome had suggested that they travel together, Lixue offering her services in exchange for their help taking down the priest should he appear. Finding no other alternative presented to her, she agreed for a momentary alliance. She was proud, not stupid.

And so the man-eating tigress joined up with a hanyou, a young fox youkai, and a miko from the future.


	4. Bind Her in Her Bones

_Chapter Four: Bind Her in Her Bones_

**A/N: Hold on to your seats, little readers! A major plot point lies in this chapter!**

"I am not interested in your ningen food." Lixue kept her back to the cup of noodles Kagome had offered to her. They had stopped to rest briefly beside a small stream, the day's trek relatively uneventful as the group tried to accommodate its moody tiger addition.

"Well fine then, starve if you want to." Kagome shoved the package back into her backpack. "Not my fault if you fall over dead from starvation." She busied herself with the small kettle, pouring the boiling water into a noodle-filled cup for a very impatient Inuyasha.

Shippou scooted to the front of the tigress, small paws resting on her knee for a moment before she shifted away. He withdrew his hands but continued to peer at her face. "You're hungry. Why don't you eat?" he queried.

"Because, little fox," she purred, "the closest thing I'd eat is you."

Shippou cringed and withdrew, before his cheeks colored red and he shouted, "Don't tease me like that! It's not nice to say you're going to eat someone!"

"Who said I was teasing?" She smiled humorlessly.

"I- Inuyasha!" The kit scrambled to the safety of the hanyou, who had snapped to his feet.

"I knew we couldn't trust her," Inuyasha began, before Kagome interrupted.

"Lee-zue, you can't mean that." Kagome tried to calm down the situation with a motherly voice.

"You're pronouncing my name wrong." Lixue cringed at the butchering of her name. "It's pronounced lee-zwah."

"That's beside the point! You can't go around saying you're gonna eat them! You'd have to eat me first, and I know you wouldn't be able to!"

"I would never eat you, Inuyasha. Hanyous have a horribly sour taste." Lixue stuck her tongue out in memory of the last one she had eaten, a butterfly hanyou that smelled sweet but was really very harsh to devour. The dust from her wings had floated up her nose and made her sneeze for hours.

"Why you-!" Inuyasha leapt toward her, hands outstretched, but he never made it that far.

"SIT BOY!"

Lixue leapt away in surprise as the hanyou was slammed into the ground by the words of the young miko. Bewildered, she bent to her fours and sniffed him experimentally. The beads around his neck smelled faintly of spiritual power, and she shied away.

Kagome huffed, her hands on her hips. "You two need to stop this arguing!"

The tigress did not like being ordered about by a lowly mortal, but kept her mouth shut in the interest of her agreement with it.

"Inuyasha, you'd better be nice. She hasn't eaten anybody, so you can't attack her. Lixue, quit scaring Shippou." Kagome flopped to the ground, muttering, "It's like babysitting all over again."

Inuyasha picked himself up from the dirt and scowled in Lixue's direction before sitting down with his ramen. Shippou opted to sit with Kagome, effectively sending a message to Lixue that she was unwelcome.

_As if I desire camaraderie with them. Ha! I'd be wiser to spend time croaking about the rain with the frogs._

The yaoguai stood and dusted off her hakama before strolling away.

"Where are you going?" Inuyasha grunted at her between mouthfuls.

"I was under the impression that you desired me to eat. So I'm hunting," she tossed over her shoulder.

"Fine. Whatever. But we're leaving when we're done so don't expect us to wait up for you." He said into his ramen, eliciting a sigh from Kagome.

oOxXxOo

Time passed, and the small team of oddities grew to an uneasy peace. Lixue left to feed, and would answer no questions as to where or what she had eaten. Inuyasha always watched the yaoguai with distrust, but as she continued to not eat his miko, he spent longer periods of time without checking for her location and relaxed a little more in her presence. Shippou learned that so long as did not touch her or try and find some softness in her, Lixue was willing to tolerate his questions, answering in short (if not gruff) sentences or grunts.

It wasn't that she was emotionless, but that she was incredibly bored. Spending days wandering the countryside in the presence of two hormonal juveniles and a nosy fox child was "stimulating" enough to make her want to strip to her bare bones and ransack a few villages in the nude.

She often entertained herself with such ridiculous fantasies while plodding along behind her companions. Her hunts had been boring and yielded few satisfactory fights, the few demons she had found being either puny or cowardly; neither were very good for their entertainment value. So great was her disappointment that she found herself relying more and more on the local wildlife for sustenance, a habit which did not do much to alleviate her growing restlessness.

The boredom was erased as soon as Kagome proclaimed, "Oh! I sense a shard nearby!"

_Any demon that possesses a shard of the Shikon no Tama promises me a fight. Let's hope that its promise isn't a hollow one. _

Lixue's hands clenched. She could contain herself, but her tigress was itching to escape this human form – she much preferred her fur to skin, a cloak of fire to flimsy human armor. She had preserved its shape through her transformations, needing repairs less often over time as she perfected it. Demonic armor shifted as she had, but she had to be mindful of the fabric of the human outfit she donned now. She forced herself to relax and released her fists.

Inuyasha glanced at the youkai, stripes shifting ethereally just under the surface of her skin. Her pupils were dilated, her fangs protruding ever so slightly beyond her lips… her elven ears had begun the ghost of a darker outline along the edge and the claws on her fingertips were growing more curved. He didn't trust her; to do so would be similar to sitting down to warm yourself by a wildfire. Though he had yet to smell human blood on her after her hunts, he did not put it past her – on her hungrier days, she had watched Kagome in a way that set his teeth on edge. The only reason he had let her stick around this long was Kagome's insistence that any help in searching for the jewel and getting rid of Naraku was more than welcome – plus she'd sit him if he tried anything.

"Which way is it, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked.

"Um… North of here, I think." Kagome pointed.

Inuyasha nodded and hoisted Kagome and Shippou onto his back before dashing off where Kagome had pointed. Lixue darted after him, easily holding pace with the hanyou's leaps.

When they breached the hill, they found a small village bordering a stream at the foot of the mountains, the heart of a web of rice fields.

Shippou leapt off of Inuyasha's back as he came to a stop, pointing into the sky with an excited, "Kirara!"

Sango rode astride the demon cat, swinging the massive Hiraikotsu around her head before releasing it towards the ground. Kirara deftly dodged the carapaced leg that had shot out in retaliation, twisting and dropping several feet in the air before regaining her altitude.

Kagome smiled broadly. "Where Sango is, Miroku can't be far behind! Come on, let's help them!" She began to run down the hill, Shippou clinging to her shoulder and Inuyasha taking off ahead.

Lixue smelled the blood of the demon in the village, punctuated with the twang of acid that she now knew to be the jewel. She growled in satisfaction and began her shift, leaving the earth as a human and landing as the tiger.

She half-jogged, half-ran through the rice fields, trampling the tender plants beneath her furred paws and splashing the water into small waves. She rounded the corner of a squat hut and nearly bowled over a man in purple monk robes, growling as she leapt over him to eagerly meet the source of the jewel-scent. The demon was a large, grotesque beetle with far too many legs and the head of a human perched atop a long, fat-rolled neck. It opened its mouth to expel a cloud of wasps, quickly dispatched by Tetsusaiga into a column of green smoke. It had turned to laugh, mouth expanding to immense proportions, when Lixue reared up and embraced the creature's back with her body, hooking her claws along the seams of its wings and flaring wildly.

The beetle turned its neck entirely around to screech at Lixue, lifting its legs to stab her in the sides, before the boomerang sliced a large wound into the back of its neck and its legs went awry, scraping its own carapace and cracking one of its wing casings as Lixue leapt away. She landed solidly in a hut with her hind legs, only taking the time to shake off a bit of debris before diving under the beetle and turning onto her back to dig at the demon's belly.

Sango grasped Hiraikotsu as it returned to her, directing Kirara to Kagome, who was attempting to help villagers escape the battleground.

"Kagome!" Sango shouted, "Is that demon one of ours?"

"Yeah! Her name's Lixue!" Kagome shouted back, propping an elderly lady up around her ribcage.

Satisfied with the answer, Sango and Kirara flew back towards the battle, picking up Miroku who had evacuated his side of the village and had dispatched another cloud of wasps with his wind tunnel. They swung to the demons struggling in the center of town, Inuyasha putting down twin worms who had sprung from the body of the beetle only moments before.

Lixue swatted away the beetle's thorned leg, barely registering the cuts the appendage had left on her paw before scrambling away from beneath the demon. It turned to face her, spewing froth and worms from its sides to do battle in its stead. The beetle began to open its wings to fly, only departing for a few feet before Inuyasha swept through a pair of its wings with a slash from Tetsusaiga. It began to spin wildly, head thrashing, its course causing it to destroy the roof of the temple and revealing a small group of children huddled within. Kirara dropped Miroku into the collapsing temple to retrieve them, Sango attempting to herd the out-of-control beetle away from flying into it again.

Lixue spied her chance and leapt atop the beetle, clamping down hard onto its neck and closing her nose against the acidic miasma that sprouted from its wounds. The massive tiger's added weight changed the course of the beetle to back where it had been, aiming directly for the temple.

Sango desperately yelled, "Lixue! Keep it away from the temple! There are children inside!"

Lixue heard the cry of the woman but held her death grip on the enemy's throat. What did she care if some humans were killed? The vermin were everywhere – and she had this enemy right where she wanted it.

Sango saw the refusal in the demon's eyes, and knew she had little choice. She drew a string of bone-colored beads from her armor and a small dagger, wrapping the dagger between her hands with the beads before chanting under her breath. Miroku gathered the children behind him, preparing to use the wind tunnel should Sango's beads fail her, in order to suck in both demons to spare the children despite that it would surely expand from the use.

Lixue felt the demon's teeth grasping at her furred neck, foiled by her thick and blazing folds, as it squalled in anger at the world. She knew she was close to separating its head from the owner when she felt something tighten around her neck. Thinking it was surely a trick of the demon, she released it and leapt away – but the thing about her neck only grew tighter, choking her and sending painful currents of energy throughout her body.

The tigress lost all semblance of sanity at that point, yowling and hissing and roaring while leaping in circles, rubbing her head against the ground and clawing at her neck. She fell onto her back, fire exploding around her, biting at the air and tail thrashing wildly as she fought what was surely going to be her death.

She didn't know how long she fought it, only that she fought. She did not know that the demon was disposed of, the shard retrieved and purified, that the group had gathered near her, only that she had to survive first and foremost.

Sango held the dagger in her fist, saying evenly, "Be still, Lixue."

Lixue heard Sango's words – but she _felt_ them too, feeling Sango's will bending her own. Lixue growled and ignored her, fighting even more viciously against the thing about her neck despite its growing level of dominion over her. She was only stilled when the binding sent a wave of electricity so sharp and severe throughout her body that it paralyzed her.

When she laid there, panting and angry, the pain subsided as though it hadn't been there at all and the binding receded from its bite into her neck into a loose circlet around her neck.

The tigress opened her mouth as best she could, demanding in a roar, "_**What human trickery is this?!**_"

"I bound your spirit," Sango replied calmly, holding up the dagger. "I had no choice. You would have let those innocent children die."

"Of course I would, ningen! The enemy would have perished!" Lixue had begun to regain feeling in her muscles but continued to lie still in case this was another trick.

Miroku shook his head. "No enemy is worth the life of a child."

Kagome shook with anger. "I can't believe I thought you-!" She couldn't even finish her sentence.

Inuyasha stood with his hands on his hips. "I knew she couldn't be trusted."

Shippou didn't say anything, but only looked sadly at the silvery tigress, fur matted with dirt and blood, crimson eyes wild with animalistic anger.

Sango, still gripping the dagger, proclaimed "Demon! I order you to transform!"

Lixue hesitated. The binding began to tighten in response, but then it released again when she began to revert. When she sat up, fully humanoid, she looked at her chest, finding a beaded necklace similar to Inuyasha's around her neck. Hers, however, were painstakingly carved into dozens of tiny yin-yangs the color of bone and outlined in a red and black ink. They did not rest as his did, but seemed to float around each other in an invisible ring about her neck, space between the bead halves as well as the beads themselves. As the willpower from Sango subsided, the beads began to rest into a more natural pattern.

Sango sighed. "That took me a long time to make. I was hoping to use it on Naraku."

Miroku moved to her side and began to pat her shoulder. "You did well, Sango. The important thing is that we know it works."

Inuyasha snorted. "So that's bone-binding, huh? Smells like demon bones."

Sango nodded. "It's like your subjugation beads, but instead of being bound to a single person and a word of subjugation, the demon is bound to an object and the willpower of the person possessing it. This technique was actually originated from a demon who wanted to have an army of obedient soldiers who retained their intelligence."

Lixue lifted her lip to display her fangs. "I will not remain bound to you, human."

Sango smiled at her. "You will so long as this dagger is in my hands – and you cannot touch it. The binding prevents it." She held the dagger towards Lixue. "Go on, try and take it from me."

Lixue eyed the human suspiciously, standing up to inspect the dagger. It seemed ordinary enough, being of human make and plain to the eye. She extended her index finger to touch the dagger, but when her claw was but a hair's breadth away, the dagger flared to life – the surface swam with words in blazing white, an archaic dialect.

_Thou shalt obey. Thou shalt protect. _

Hundreds of commands swirled in a frantic pace across the face of the dagger, overlapping and swirling together to form a solid stream of binding.

She closed the distance between her claw and the dagger, touching for only a moment before the collar constricted and she was propelled backward by the back of her neck with a flash of lightning. She landed on her feet, sliding to a stop before putting her hand to the back of her neck. It came away bloody, healing wounds from the fight reopened and new wounds inflicted in what felt like the shape of a mouth.

She smiled with ire.

_Lixue will not be contained. _

**A/N: Goodness, these chapters seem to just keep growing!**


	5. Prelude of Memory

_Chapter Five: Prelude of Memory_

**A/N: This chapter and the next were meant to be one, but I kept adding more and more until they were split in two! Le gasp! Enjoy this double-stuffed chapter.**

Lixue crouched onto her haunches, mulling over her thoughts. She had fought the binding collar about her neck, but to little avail – over the course of the day, she had learned that she was now obligated to do such things as rebuild houses and bury the dead. The dagger had passed from hand to hand as needed, the tigress' prideful spirit forced to subject itself to peasants smeared with dirt.

But she had been helpless. And she hated every moment, raging at the beads about her neck, the dagger, the sky above her and the dirt below her.

Her fury had abated come sunset, replaced gradually with acceptance. She had been taught from a young age that if one could not change something, one should not worry about it. Her father's wisdom calmed her, but only just. She would bide her time and find a way to release herself from these chains that bound her spirit so tightly.

She sat on the outskirts of the fire, her legs held up against her chest and her chin resting behind her knees. She was motionless save for the flickering of her eyes as she watched her company.

The group was happy to pretend she was not glowering at them, sharing food amongst themselves and laughing at stories shared. Miroku was not among them, choosing to sit by her and eat his meal in the quiet company of the tiger. She did not trust him but had no reason to move, knowing that the knife prevented her from moving too far away from it.

"I know that this must be hard for you." The monk stated to her without glancing in her direction. Lixue only grunted in response.

"No, really." He put his hand on his chest above his heart. "You're a spirit that requires freedom to survive, and you're caged up." Miroku sighed dramatically. "I can only begin to know the pain and confusion you're in…"

Lixue's eyes widened in shock. The monk's hand had found its way to her rear, moving in what was surely meant to be comforting circles.

She whirled and grabbed Miroku by the throat, snarling as she snapped her fangs shut before his face, prevented by the collar from doing anything more. She growled as her grip was forcibly removed by the accursed collar, Sango's carefully specific edicts of protection overriding her sense of justice.

Miroku closed his eyes and rubbed his neck, noting that she had left shallow gouges in the skin when her hand had been taken away unwillingly. They were bleeding now but would stop soon. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in the side of his head.

"You perverted monk!" Sango threw another rock at him. "Maybe I should lift the order protecting _you!_"

Miroku held up an arm to protect himself from the rock-wielding Sango, protesting that he had only been trying to comfort the youkai, a claim that was not fooling anyone, least of all the youkai herself. She had felt the will of Sango to punish Miroku and was gathering bits of rock and branch to be thrown – more than a little surprised at the fact that her human captor was defending her honor.

_Though I suspect it has more to do with the fact that he was touching someone other than herself,_ the demon mused. _Regardless of motive, my indignity was not suffered. This is enough._

When she had exhausted her anger, Sango and the others sat back at the fire, leaving Lixue and Miroku alone but now in an area littered with evidence. Lixue pushed a particularly pointy stick away from her seat with her toes, ignoring the monk once more. Miroku was full of hurts, but felt that his was a tolerable suffering if it meant caressing the rear of such a beautiful woman, youkai or no.

_Though I have to admit, _he thought to himself, _the idea that she could not retaliate was very alluring as well. I just couldn't keep myself away._

Lixue resolved to keep an eye on the monk should he try to spirit away the dagger from Sango's care. She didn't want to think about what he'd get away with then.

The next morning, Lixue trailed halfheartedly behind Sango as she and Kagome went in search of a bath. She had grown hungry and was cranky from being awoken at the ass-crack of dawn by the compulsion of the dagger.

_It's rather ridiculous how my life is now dictated by two inanimate objects – a mirror and a dagger. Things I should be able to crush beneath my paw, and yet I can touch neither without injury or perhaps death. _

When a lake had been located, the girls had jumped in, while Lixue opted to bathe a bit further upstream, finding the deeper water to her liking. After washing the blood and various other bits of grime from her body, the tigress vacated the water and began to sun herself on a rock as cats do, leaving the human women to talk between themselves as they enjoyed the sunlight and water.

Lixue had clothed herself once her clothing had dried (thinking to herself that she simply must replace them soon, perhaps with something more suited to her and with fewer stains), stretching back out on her rock and dozing in the sunshine. The dagger was resting with Sango's weapons, nestled carefully in the crook of her slayer's armor. She had been nearly asleep when a foreign… yet familiar… scent drifted lazily to her nose, hinting at ginger and yellow orchid under the overtones of sun-warmed fur.

She sat up, trying to place where she knew it from, brow furrowing in concentration. The forest fell silent around them, causing the women to cease their conversation and look about them in suspicion. Sango stood, Kagome following in kind, warily gathering up her Hiraikotsu and handing Kagome the dagger that bound Lixue.

Lixue's mouth twitched. _I am now to be used as a dagger. Hmph. _She did not move from her sun-drenched rock, feeling no compulsion to help in any case, either from the collar or from compassion.

The warm scent was getting closer, driving her nose into overdrive as she sampled the wind, frustrated at her inability to remember. It stirred images of a silver field, dappled moonlight, and a sense of loss – but it was slippery and broken, like trying to see a reflection in a disturbed water's surface. She closed her eyes in concentration, a word trying to birth from her tongue –

"There! Hiraikotsu!" Sango's voice rang out over the water, shattering what little Lixue had been able to remember. The boomerang tore through the trees as if they were made of paper, but did not hit its mark if Sango's exasperated exhale was anything to go by. Lixue opened her eyes in time to witness a man appear before Sango, raising his arm to strike her, claws glowing a sickly yellow-green. Sango thrust up her sword in time to deflect the demon's claws, but only just. He seemed about to strike again when Kagome screamed at him to leave her alone. He seemed to take offense to this, changing course immediately to the miko, who screeched for Inuyasha and held up the dagger in self-defense. The snow-haired demon chuckled dryly at this, raising his hand once more when Lixue felt the dagger calling her to battle to defend its holder.

Lixue groaned against the compulsion, hoping that she could have been freed from it should the owner perish, but all the same flashed forward with her sword drawn. She aimed the sword at the strange demon's back, her flight through the air true and swift, but he seemed to sense her presence and moved to the side, turning his back to Kagome, who took his distraction and used it to plunge the dagger between his ribs.

Lixue smelled the dagger melting from the demon's poison before Kagome could try and pull it away. The new will was for her to miss the demon, overcoming and counteracting against her previous impulse, driving her to point her sword at the ground and grind to a halt a scant few feet from the foot of the demon. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the mixed and painful wills that flooded her senses and shut her mind, sneezing furiously at the dust that now kicked up into her nostrils and wiping at her eyes with the backs of her hands.

Kagome watched in dumbstruck horror as the metal melted into Sesshomaru's body, leaving her holding a useless grip and close enough to the daiyoukai to see her reflection in his armor. She heard the grating of metal against the ground as her would-be weapon failed, dust floating into her eyes. The granules of hateful dirt blinded her and she tripped as she attempted to sidestep behind a tree. She gasped at the twinge of hurt in her ankle, grasping it with her free hand and relying on her ears to inform her of what was happening – the lift of air as Sesshomaru leapt – the distinctive whirl of Hiraikotsu – Inuyasha's yell and the clash of metal – the sudden smell of Inuyasha as he picked her up from where she had tripped – and she was finally able to blink away the sand to see a pair of worried golden eyes before her. She grabbed Inuyasha into a fierce hug, trembling and relieved, which he grumbled at but returned just as tightly.

"What are you holding, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked her, plucking the hilt from her hands. "Is this the dagger?" He pinched it between his thumb and forefinger, sniffing it before handing it to Sango. "It reeks."

Sango looked at the ruined hilt contemplatively. "I don't know if it will work this way. Technically, the weapon was the sharpened metal, and that seems to have disappeared. We'll have to find it and reattach it."

Lixue shook her head clear at last, blinking and recovering her senses to the world around her. She detected the demon no more, his scent moving further away by the moment. She turned to the direction the scent led, feeling that he had no interest in them, their encounter entirely coincidental and now over.

Kagome squirmed a bit. "Ah… well… that might not be entirely possible." She smiled nervously as her friends looked at her. "It kind of… melted. In Sesshomaru."

Lixue jerked in surprise at the name. _Sesshomaru. _She _did_ know the demon – the young son of her father's friend, met only once decades ago. She had little time to ruminate, however, as the collar began to tighten in warning. As she had been given no order, it had to be because the dagger was moving away from her. She swung her head back toward Kagome, then Sango, only seeing the hilt of the dagger and neither of them moving.

"If the dagger is destroyed, why am I feeling this compulsion?" She demanded of Sango, gesturing to the lively cord of beads that seemed to be happily tightening around her neck.

Sango moved to her, eyebrows furrowed and her mouth set in a firm line as she peered at the beads straining against the youkai's skin, the pressure revealing hints at the tigress' stripes. "You must have been bound to Sesshomaru when the dagger melted into him."

"This is grave news indeed," Miroku added. "Can he compel her to attack us?"

Lixue could no longer ignore the tug of the binding, gathering herself up and jogging after Sesshomaru's pull, the collar releasing its tension when she began to obey.

Sango shook her head. "I don't know. My previous order should protect us. But if he were to directly counteract it…"

Lixue was soon too far to hear the voices behind her clearly, focusing on the trail before her. The promise of his scent grew stronger, tugging out interesting mixes of emotion from the deepest recesses of memory. She was closing in on Sesshomaru, and if he didn't know she was there already, he would soon.

But did she want to be?

**A/N: ****Sesshomaru's sudden disappearance is explained in tomorrow's chapter, since it seems a little unlike him, don't you think? Hope you enjoyed!**


	6. Symphony of the Yellow Lotus

_Chapter Six: Symphony of the Yellow Lotus_

**A/N: Do my readers not like my story? I enjoy writing it, but when my response rate is at a little over 1%, it makes one wonder. I'm sorry if it's not meeting expectations. Please leave me a note or let me know how I can improve! Anywho, enjoy the chapter!**

Sesshomaru was displeased. Jaken just knew it… and the tiny imp's knees were knocking so badly, he was just as sure that would kill him to make him quiet, which only made them tremble more furiously. He whimpered quietly to himself, wiping rivulets of sweat from above his bulbous eyes and gripping the Staff of Two Heads even more tightly. His lord emanated displeasure, but at what, Jaken wasn't sure – and that surely meant he, Jaken, would bear the brunt of his aggression.

The long and short of it was that Sesshomaru had been interrupted. He had been traveling with purpose, his green and squeaky retainer following dutifully behind, when his steps slowed and he lifted his nose to taste the air a bit more clearly. The inuyoukai found this scent to be distinct, sweet and spicy but with a burnt note – bitter and subtle but not necessarily displeasing. Charred vanilla beans, roasted tea leaves, and a strange mix of cinnamon, oleander, and cloves… some of these scents were foreign to him, and thus did not have names to him, but left him curious indeed. He had known this scent once, and that alone was enough for him to investigate.

Sesshomaru had known that the human women from his half-wit half-brother's group were bathing in the vicinity of the aroma, but they were not his point of interest. He left Jaken behind and followed his nose, his assertion to himself that he _knew_ this scent growing with every whiff. He halted his approach on the far side of the water, knowing that the silence of the birds would give him away but finding it hard to care. This Sesshomaru was answering a question.

His nose told him that the creature sunbathing on a rock was his goal, and he watched the onyx-haired woman with some measure of aloof canine curiosity. This lithe demoness surely could not be the shy slip of a girl that had presumed to be his equal centuries ago. When last he saw her, she had been but a shy cub, trailing behind her father and avoiding the Inu yo Taisho's guests with her soft words, slipping silently from under their very eyes. Sesshomaru wondered idly if she had changed with age, his expression impassive as he studied the form across the lake. She opened her eyes and sat up, seeming to catch his scent as well, furrowing her eyebrows and lifting her chin in his direction. _She knows my scent as well._

His curiosity was not sated as he had expected it to be, but intensified at this mysterious reappearance of the Chinese tigress. He was not so mired in his curiosity as to ignore the demon slayer's weapon as it arced through the air, slicing through the air he had occupied only moments earlier. Sesshomaru closed the distance between himself and the slayer, lifting a poison-tipped claw in a display of power to teach the human the level of disrespect she had shown him. He allowed his blow to be countered by the slower-moving human, changing his attention to the miko when she demanded he leave Sango alone, the dagger in her hands coming to life and the youkai behind him stirring from her complacency. He did not like this demonic scent that the knife had exuded, and meant to knock it from her hands – when she held it up in front of him as if to defend herself with it, the image was so pathetic that he found himself amused. He lifted his arm to knock it away from the silly girl when the tigress suddenly lurched for him, no doubt called by the strange knife. He felt her course and deftly moved out of the way, not thinking that the miko would do something as stupid as she did and attempt to harm him with an obviously precious weapon.

He hissed softly as the metal slipped between two of his ribs, his poisonous blood destroying the flimsy weapon upon impact but feeling the enchantment remain within him. The tigress had ground to a halt, carving a gouge into the earth, shaking her head as if to rid it of a layer of mud. Wishing to distance himself from the enchantment in his blood and the tigress from his youth, he was already making an exit when Inuyasha entered stage right, swinging Tetsusaiga like a lumberjack. Sesshomaru drew Tokijin, meeting Inuyasha's swings with one of his own and using the momentum to leap away, disappearing as mysteriously and swiftly as he had arrived.

Sesshomaru did not care to linger and set down a fair distance away, releasing his armor and peeling the cloth away from his skin to inspect his wound. The skin had already begun to stitch back together, but the remains of the knife's power were betrayed by the darker veins spidering away from the entry, pulsing with his heartbeat in a dull ache. Pressing down gingerly on the healing tissue, he registered no increase in the pressure; the coppery twinge of his blood tinted with the acrid stench of superheated steel covering the dark stain on the fabric. Despite his lack of outright pain, the wound's persistence worried him – or as close an emotion to worry as he would allow himself to feel. Perhaps he was mildly concerned. But only just.

He lifted his head from inspecting his side when the faint smell of burning spice and oleander brushed teasingly against his nose and sent it twitching. Replacing his armor onto his chest, Sesshomaru determined that he was being pursued by the tigress, which seemed to be following his course rather than directly intersecting with him. Perhaps her nose was not as strong as his own, as he could pinpoint exactly where she traversed the wood.

Jaken had appeared to him then, gushing something about being left behind but glad to be back… Sesshomaru did not respond, but simply moved forward, faithful retainer at his heel and senses monitoring the cautious demoness shadowing them, preparing to turn and face her as soon as she found the boldness to leave the shadow.

Lixue nimbly strolled through the entangling roots and ivy, the low light taking on a crystalline quality as her night vision compensated. She knew where Sesshomaru lie in wait, but preferred this more circuitous path to give herself more time to think. She could hear his 'hnn' as he inspected his newly acquired injury, and if she were closer, she could hear the beat of his heart. The imp had appeared by his lord, the two apparently continuing a journey interrupted. She did not care, glad for the excuse to linger. She desired time to recall what she could of the demon that smelled of ginger, yellow lotus and fur glowing with the warmth of the sun. _Sesshomaru. _She mouthed his name, tasting it on her tongue and rolling it about her teeth. The young son of the Great Dog General, all grown up. Well, then again, so was she. She smiled faintly.

She melted away from the shadow of the wood, pausing as she locked eyes with the young lord, the great distance between them seeming incredibly small. He was much more powerful than she had anticipated, knowing that even the immense aura she could feel was an aura held in check. She frowned, wondering if her lack of resistance to follow him was born of some distant kittenish impulse to chase the scent of flowers and fur. Either way, she remained rooted to the spot, listening and watching.

Time is next to meaningless for the long-lived; the two watched and listened and smelled for a bit of meaninglessness, testing and checking for familiarities and threat. At length, some unreadable expression flitted across Sesshomaru's face and he turned on his heel to leave. Lixue did not feel compulsion from her collar, but tested a few steps ever so cautiously. She stopped again, hesitation and curiosity duking it out. She turned her head, staring with wide eyes into the glittering dark of the forest behind her, then across the sun-soaked wildflowers separating her from the retreating form of Sesshomaru.

He could smell the uncertainty rolling from her in waves as she struggled with her desire for freedom and her curiosity, the curse from her feline makeup and the hatred for confinement unable to extricate themselves from her. He didn't care what she did, but he did know that as soon as she had appeared on the edge of his vision, the throbbing within his side had ceased as though never there… as though it had called her forth from the trees to ease his discomfort. Dismissing the thought, he sauntered in a general 'away' direction to see what she would do, his senses tuned to her in spite of his apparent dismissal.

Very little could be said to justify her decision beyond that she was, as cats tend to be, insatiably curious. Ears perked as far as their limited design would allow, the tigress picked careful steps, a wandering trail that kept her on the fringes but certainly following the dog. Her circular pattern and zigzags soon softened, her pauses less frequent, mercury eyes trained on the silver and white youkai whose steps never faltered as her fascination grew. Had he turned to face her, demand explanations perhaps, she would have fought him or took flight into the forest, curiosity erased. Instead, he ignored her… and perhaps this quality alone made him fascinating.

A bit late, she took note of his style of dress – it was decidedly Chinese, despite his Japanese origin. The familiarity of his scent and his clothing served more to put her at ease than any words could have, despite the lack of any reason why she should be comforted so. The imp had continually looked over his shoulder at her, eyes dominating his expression, but she had not reacted to his notice; she preferred focusing on Sesshomaru, breathing in his scent and listening intently to his footsteps as they passed into the evening.

Sesshomaru did not relish bringing the demon back to Rin and Ah-Un, but he had been gone for far longer than he had expected. He looked askance to the silent tigress. If he hadn't been able to smell her, he might not know that she lurked just outside of his vision in the failing light – so silently and subtly the cat moved. This was the magic hour, when one's eyes could not focus but slid and danced about of their own volition, and humans found demons and spirits on the edges of their eyes.

Lixue's eyes were made for the failing light and utter dark; she felt her inner tiger stretch and yawn with anticipation of the night, stripes beginning to surface on her skin. The inuyoukai had glanced over his shoulder, searching for her form in the half-light. She knew his eyes were sharp but she doubted he could pinpoint her shape, stripes breaking her image up against the trees. Her clothing was her only shortcoming, the dull white of her kosode surely reflecting the remaining rays of the sun, and if she had truly wished to melt away she would have abandoned it. She picked up the minute intake of breath as he used his superior sense of smell to ensure she remained as she was.

_Why does he need to make sure I remain behind him?_

Her answer came soon enough from the voice of a young child gleefully calling Sesshomaru's name, followed closely by a two-headed dragon. She was curious, but she didn't need the collar's help to know that he wanted her to keep her distance. Keep her distance she did, sniffing the air and wondering at his strange protectiveness of the young human.

She crouched in the sweet-smelling grass and watched as the girl and the imp gathered wood for a fire, digging a pit and lighting it with a _whoosh_ from the two-headed staff. The dragon had watched her for a while as well, but at a low word from his master, he had ambled off a short distance to munch contentedly on the sweet clover. He blinked his eyes and purred as the girl patted his flanks and handed him some dandelions as a treat. Lixue had a great deal of interest in this young human which had garnered protection from Sesshomaru.

The very same young human who had spotted the shine of her eyes and promptly shrieked, running in small crazy circles with up flung arms until Sesshomaru bade her be quiet.

"Lixue. Come forth."

She silently bristled at his knowledge of her name – _of course he does he smells familiar surely I'm familiar to him too but that doesn't mean he should remember me after all I don't remember him – _but stood and padded toward the fire nonetheless, stopping on the dark orange line separating the glow of the fire from the safety of the blue night.

He fixed her with his eyes, an unmistakably intelligent spark lying behind them. "Am I correct in assuming that you feel compelled to follow me?"

She nodded. "You are correct. You absorbed a binding from the knife that compels me to obey and follow." She scrunched her nose – she shouldn't have told him that she had to obey. She dropped her eyes to the fire, following her words with a mumbled, "That, and you smell very familiar, Sesshomaru."

"Hnn."

The impassive demon remained just so. "In such a case, you will stay here tonight until I know what to do with you." He turned to leave. "You will protect Rin above all else." He did leave then, but not too far; he was simply going for space to think, leaving Rin, Jaken, Lixue and Ah-Un in an uncomfortable circle.

Jaken sprang to his feet. "L-Lord Sesshomaru! Surely you do not mean to leave us alone with her?!"

"You will stay as well, Jaken."

Lixue did not know what to do with herself. The imp had sat down right there and begun to cry mournfully. The girl, designated Rin, was watching her intently and was scooching closer every few seconds. A foot there. A hand twitch and a twirl closer.

"Um. Hello." Lixue forced it out of her mouth, a strained and awkward greeting.

"Hi! Rin's happy to see you."

…_What?_

Lixue looked behind the girl. "I thought you were Rin?"

"Silly demon, Rin is Rin!" She clasped her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels.

"Does Rin always talk in third person?" Maybe she was catching on.

"In what?" The girl stopped rocking and looked up at the taller woman with large eyes.

"Ah… well… you see, it's… never mind. I'm Lixue." The demon stuck her hand out stiffly.

"Hi Lixue! Want to see a trick?"

"Sure." She dropped her hand.

"O-kay!" The girl puffed up her cheeks and crossed her eyes, tipping forward to balance on one foot with her arms outspread. She was only able to balance for a few seconds before losing her focus and beginning to giggle. "How was that, Lixue?"

Lixue wasn't sure what she had just seen. "Um, that was… very good, Rin." She forced a smile at the girl and patted her head. This was apparently the right answer, as the girl spun a bit more before making herself dizzy and sat down heavily on the dirt, which was apparently very funny as she began to chortle even more.

Lixue's face twisted itself into a look of extreme concern. What had she gotten into now?


	7. The Myth of Freedom

_Chapter Seven: The Myth of Freedom_

Lixue let out a long breath, relaxing her muscles but remaining in her cross-legged position in the grass. Rin had insisted upon sitting in her lap and braiding her hair, where the girl had soon fallen asleep, breath heavy and warm as she snuggled deeper into the demon's awkward embrace.

"She seems to like you." Sesshomaru had returned, sitting down on the opposite side of the fire.

"I wouldn't know. I don't spend a lot of time with kids." Lixue would have shrugged, if not for the dead weight in her lap.

"You don't have any?" He almost sounded… surprised.

"Well, no. I haven't had time for a mate, let alone kittens. Too busy conquering and such."

"Your father should have arranged for a mate by now." He frowned slightly, as if disapproving of her sire's fathering skills.

"My father is dead."

Sesshomaru didn't respond immediately, the space between their conversation to be filled with the soft _pop_ of settling embers and the cricketsong.

"My apologies." His voice was soft.

"It's okay… it was a long time ago." She closed her eyes, breathing in slowly. "He was always trying to make peace between the lords, demon or human. A human asked him to come to his castle in the Southeast to help with peace talks, and then turned on him with holy sutras as soon as they were alone." She let out a soft shuddering breath, her voice dropping to just above a whisper. "He was all I had left in the world, and he was taken away from me by human treachery."

She lifted her head, the fire reflecting hotly in her eyes. "I spent twelve years on the warpath, destroying and devouring everything in my path until I dismantled the bastard's home. I, and I alone, avenged my father and took control of the very lands of the human who killed him after eating his still-beating heart."

Rin shifted slightly, sighing in contentment in the warmth of the tigress' clothing. This minute movement seemed to startle the youkai, who had almost forgotten the girl's presence.

"You are not who I remember," Sesshomaru murmured. "You have changed."

"How so?" She nearly scoffed. "I am as I have always been."

Sesshomaru turned his head from her, choosing to peer up into the face of the moon. "How long will this binding last?"

Lixue couldn't believe her ears. "It's not like I've ever been bound before, Sesshomaru. In fact, I've only been bound for…" she silently counted in her head. "Three days, depending on if you count today or not. It's not like I'm an expert."

"Mind your tongue." Sesshomaru warned, the beads tightening.

She grumbled, but curbed remarks that she was sure would have been biting. "Fine. I haven't a clue. All I know is that I was bound to a dagger which melted into your body. Now I'm bound to you."

"Hnn. You will be Rin's protector." He stated imperiously.

Lixue bristled. "I will _not_ be a babysitter," she hissed.

She had only the flare of his yokai energy as warning to dip her head and open her jaws before he was behind her, his hand mostly around her throat but a few fingertips caught in her teeth in defiance. He began to dig his claws into her skin, the beads biting further into her neck with tiny pulses of warning energy. She did not move beyond the grasping of his fingers in her fangs, a silent and immobile battle of wills between the two youkai. The sting of his venom soon began to enter her bloodstream as his patience began to wane further, when she wisely released him and forced herself to be still.

He gripped more tightly for a few more seconds to cement his point before relaxing his grip. Rin shifted once more, murmuring about flowers in her half-lucid state before falling into slumber once more as only children can. Her soft words, though not intentional, unwound the tension between the demons.

"You will be Rin's protector." He reiterated this a bit more forcefully, and when she did not respond, he took it as acquiescence to his demand. "I will be taking Jaken with me in the morning. You will accompany Rin wherever it pleases her to go. You will protect her and provide for her."

She grunted low in her throat, her pride bearing a fresh bruise. She would do as she was told, but she would be damned if she didn't find a way to get rid of this horrid binding one way or another.

oOxXxOo

Miroku thoughtfully placed his chin in his fist.

"Doesn't it look like her?" Shippou asked.

"Yeah, if she had a mustache," Kagome laughed.

"Look here, Kagome," Miroku pointed at the poster. "This ink for the mustache is thicker than the outline of the face, and the last letter of the name is very compressed, like someone tried to make it fit where no letters should be."

"I see it!" Kagome smiled, but then chased it with a frown. "Well if it is her, what's the poster for?"

"Apparently she's slaughtered and eaten humans beyond number to seize power in China." Miroku's voice was low and serious.

"Really? She didn't eat anybody when she was with us," Shippou murmured to himself. "Surely it's not really her."

Kagome hugged the kit closer to her body. "I hope it isn't. Look, let's find this monk Taizu and straighten this out. If it isn't her, great, but if it is… well, we should talk to him anyway."

"Good idea, Kagome. I'll go find Inuyasha and the others, see if you can't find out where Taizu is staying."

"Okay."

oOxXxOo

Monk Taizu took in a deep breath, the pale dust in the air peppering his nostrils. He called forth the memory of golden particles in the air, set afire from the steady sunlight bleeding into the room. Such precious memories seemed so ordinary before he had been blinded – now, they held such beauty for him, sharpened by the sudden darkness. He lifted a hand up to touch the bandages wound about his head, their coarse texture weaving within each other until he lost track of them with his fingers.

He dropped his hands to his sides, breathing in deeply once more. He must meditate and refresh his spiritual power to continue his search for the hated yaoguai. He cradled the deceptively delicate mirror in his lap, crossing his legs to hold its face upright while he assumed the position of the lotus.

He had been meditating for several hours when word came that he had visitors, a gentle knock on the door and a young female voice. Several sets of footsteps, some steady and unafraid, others a practiced lightness that had become second nature, soft tapping of a small animal's claws on the rough wooden floor.

"So," his graveled voice rose from the darkness of the room. "Lixue has made herself known."

"So it _was_ her on the poster…" Shippou slumped over Kagome's shoulder.

"Yes, Monk Taizu. We wanted to know more about her." Sango's voice was gentle, as if pitying the blinded holy man.

"If it's information you want, I can oblige, provided that you have information to give to me also." Taizu gripped the mirror in his hands and funneled his spirit to bring it to life, its dull answering spark emerging and receding with fantastic speed. "What do you want to know?"

He directed the mirror toward the group, eliciting curses from Inuyasha, who leapt to the front with his hand resting on Tetsusaiga's hilt. The mirror did nothing, merely held in the lap of the rotund monk, who chuckled softly.

"Relax, boy. I am merely looking at you."

"With a mirror?!" Inuyasha snarled. "What's the matter, can't use your eyes?"

The monk remained silent, causing Kagome to nudge Inuyasha aside to peer into Taizu's face before whirling around to slap the bewildered hanyou.

"You jerk! He's wearing bandages on his head, of course he can't see!"

Taizu cleared his throat, silencing the two. "No harm done. I am able to use this mirror to see you, though at the sacrifice of depth perception and color." He then stood, opening the shutters from the window to allow light to perforate the darkness.

"What is that mirror made of? It doesn't feel entirely earthly." Miroku eyed the mirror with suspicion.

"Very astute, houshi. This sacred item is the Mirror of Yao-Shih, the god of healing and psychic powers. Now, did you have questions for me?" Taizu sat back down upon his futon with a grunt.

"What do you know of the demon Lixue?" Miroku queried.

"Ah, well that's quite an open question. Please, sit." Taizu gestured at the floor. "Now. Lixue is a very powerful tiger demon. In your language, I believe she would be a taiyoukai."

"No way," Inuyasha snorted. "She could barely transform, let alone be a taiyoukai."

"Ah, so you have seen her true form as well?" A smile played at the corners of the monk's mouth. "She is not at full strength. I have a goodly portion of her soul right here with me." Taizu patted the edge of the mirror fondly. "I'd estimate I have anywhere from a quarter to a third of her soul. The very fact that she can still change forms at will is indicative of her current power… however, the fact remains that she is as I have said.

"Several decades ago, her father was attempting to foster peace between several warring factions of eastern China and most of Japan. I was just a boy, but I remember my father summoning the tiger to our castle to act as a neutral party between himself and our neighboring province. When they had all assembled, the tiger turned on my father to give his lands over to our enemy, and my master Monk Wei was forced to slay him to protect my father. It was not long after that Lixue began her rise to power, fueled by rage at her father's death.

"My father sent entire platoons after her, his best warriors, and even my master – none could destroy her, only seeming to feed her fury. She spent twelve years ravaging the countryside, burning villages and devouring everything in her path as she grew closer. She starved us out, weakening us and breaking the men's spirits as they fought hunger without even the hope that their families were still alive. When she attacked the castle, we could not hold her at bay. My father instructed one of the servants to flee, placing me in her care. The last time I ever laid eyes on my father, Lixue had him on his back, kneeling over him with her hand reaching up from his stomach into his chest. She removed his beating heart from his body and devoured it." Monk Taizu's voice was flat, the listeners silent.

"She took the castle then, leaving none within its walls alive and proclaiming herself Empress of its lands. Slowly, people began to rebuild, but none within sight of that accursed castle. She was silent for a long time, and people began to hope that she had perished. However, it was too much to hope for, and she soon began gathering demon generals and armies to conquer the neighboring lands. I could not allow what had happened to me to happen to other children, but I was poorly schooled in monkhood and had little to no chance of defeating such a mighty opponent. It was at that time that I discovered the Mirror of Yao-Shih, sealed deep within a cave under the water.

"I do not know why it was sealed, but it spoke to me, promising me the power to destroy the vile demon if I released it. The mirror shaped and honed my spiritual power until I was able to use it against Lixue, disguised my aura and allowed me to slip into the castle undetected. She could not sense my aura nor see my shape, and I should have been able to end her there – however, she trusted her ears and nose above all else and discovered my infiltration. I was only able to draw a portion of her soul into the mirror before she blinded me with her claws, buying herself enough time to flee.

"I would surely have perished if not for the mirror. It became my eyes, guiding me toward the remainder of her soul – the signal was strongest in China, especially in the areas she had grown up in. However, once she departed for Japan, I lost her track in the middle of the ocean and haven't been able to pick it up since then. I suppose it was too much to ask that she had simply drowned… and then, here you are, with news that she is alive and has enough strength of spirit to change form at will."

The monk smiled bitterly. "Now that I have told you all that I know of the tigress, I would like to know where she is hiding."

"I can't believe she did all of those horrible things…" Shippou shook his head, trying to rid himself of any feelings of pity for the tigress, a sympathy born of having lost his father not so long ago.

The faces of those surrounding the monk were serious and drawn, the air oppressive and wound over their shoulders like a heavy woolen cloak.

"We can tell you where we last saw her, but perhaps it would be best if you came with us. It will be easier to take her down with each other's help." Kagome offered with a fire in her eyes. "We won't let her get away with killing all of those innocent people." Her friends nodded and added their words of support.

"You honor me with your offer, young woman. I accept." Taizu inclined his head in a bow. "Together, my father's soul can finally be put to rest."

**A/N: Geez, Lixue. Way to be an antihero. Thanks for the reviews, my dear readers! I'm very happy so many of you liked it. Here's hoping that the plot doesn't thicken too much more, or it will become impossible to stir!**


	8. A Languid Waltz

_Chapter Eight: A Languid Waltz_

**A/N: Sorry for the lateness, I've been sick like you wouldn't believe. In exchange, you get a little extra dosage of backstory! I have had lots of time to ruminate over which way to take this chapter so I hope you enjoy.**

Rin gingerly placed the flowered wreath upon the tigress' head, perching it just so amongst her onyx tresses with infinite care.

"Rin likes blue on you," the girl stated. "Does Li like blue?"

Lixue did not have much of an opinion about the color blue, but she definitely did not like the shortening of her name. Wasn't it short enough already?

"Blue's fine, I suppose. Why are you calling me Li?"

Rin did not answer her directly, choosing instead to leap further down the flower-drenched hill in pursuit of a butterfly that had teased her moments before. The girl's giggles, ever perpetual, rolled from her in the same waves as her joy. _Such an easy happiness, to be drawn forth so fully by flowers and insects. _

That morning, Sesshomaru had taken his leave with Jaken. At first, she was compelled to follow, carrying a sleepy Rin in her arms as she was compelled to be with her also. He had had to rehash his statement to include a period of time and the order to not follow in addition to staying with Rin – even with so many stipulations, the compulsion to follow him was barely satisfied. It settled grumblingly into a dull itch at the base of her spine, a tension drawn up through the marrow in her backbone. It was not a feeling that inspired patience or pleasure at being left behind, as it began to intensify again the further he strayed.

The grumpy tiger pushed herself up from the sun-warmed ground to follow the smallish human as she bounced into the shade-spotted copse of trees, darkly considering if destroying the girl would anger Sesshomaru so badly that his yokai would push their binding apart. She considered it with some seriousness before remembering the Tensaiga with a resigned sigh. Even if she _did_ manage to get away alive with her power weakened so, he could bring the girl back and then have lost nothing of his own – she would have made a very dangerous enemy with nothing to show for it. She'd probably not even succeed at releasing herself from the binding, being not only compelled to obey a taiyoukai hell-bent on destroying her while she was already in an unfamiliar land, but also be hunted by some half-wit blinded priest without an ally in the world. Ah, well. It had been fun to imagine disemboweling the creature, enticing an unappreciative growl from her neglected stomach.

"Rin," she grunted. "Come. We're going to go to town."

Rin propelled herself from the bushes with an excited squeak. "Yay!"

Lixue pried the girl's fingers from her clothing.

oOxXxOo

Sesshomaru did not want to leave Rin alone with Lixue, but he needed to speak with an old friend. He had sent Jaken off by himself to fetch Ah-Un and take him back to Rin and Lixue. This left him free to pursue his quest, tearing across the sky toward the demonic magnolia tree Bokuseno.

Sesshomaru landed a respectful distance away from the ancient tree. Bokuseno's bark curled away to form a wise and mossy face, an invitation for the inuyoukai to approach.

"What brings you before me, Sesshomaru?" The tree's voice drew from the bark, the roots, the leaves; its very essence was one of power and all-encompassing wisdom, the voice summoned warmly from the wells of ancient knowledge.

"Lixue." Sesshomaru's voice was carefully deadpan, a tense relaxation in his hands.

"Ah," the tree chortled. "The cub has returned. Isn't that exactly what you wanted?"

Sesshomaru avoided the question. "She's different than she used to be. She isn't Lixue anymore."

"People – and demons – change as they age, young one."

"Lixue isn't the demon that's come back. This Lixue is a wildfire barely contained, and I was bound to her against my will with a demon slayer's knife. I need to either sever this bondage to her or return her to who she used to be before her father was killed." His voice grew in volume the longer he spoke, ending his last sentence with a sudden softness, vision turned inward.

The tree rustled in thought. "I do not know of a way to sever the bond between you."

Sesshomaru did not respond. It was a long shot, after all.

"You believe her change is from the loss of her father." The tree stated this as if it was a question, but they both knew it to be an accurate assumption. "A shame that he passed. How long was it between Xing Chao's death and your last meeting with Xing Lixue?"

_The alabaster bones grasping up from the ground, an fleetingly eternal monument to suffering forgotten and overgrown. She set between the bleached ribs, perched contentedly on the worn spine, feet swinging as she smiled at him. Her hair had been shaken loose from its formal buns, a testament to her wild flight from the confines of the castle and high society to the freedom of the trees. Vivid stripes in the moonlight, casting shadows and shadows again… he crossly ordered her to return, to show his father the respect demanded of her, but she poked out her pink little tongue and refused. It was not the last time he would see her, but it was the last time he remembered her smiling so sincerely at him._

"Two days after she met you."

"Ah. This was quite some time ago… before your father met Izayoi, if I'm not mistaken. How can you be sure that she did not change on her own? Tigers are notoriously hot-blooded."

Sesshomaru didn't answer Bokuseno, though whether because he didn't have an answer or didn't want to believe the tree, he kept his own counsel.

The boughs above him sighed in unison with the face before him. "I can help you bring her back if it is as you say. Take blossoms from my branches and make her a tea from their petals. Her soul will be brought to the surface, with all of her fears and regrets. She will need to be guided, Sesshomaru. If you can save her from herself, your cub will be returned to you over time."

"How long will it take for her to return?"

"That's up to her. If she wants to be returned, it could be a matter of weeks. If she's intoxicated with her anger, trapped by her regret, she may fight it, and it could never happen. It's your duty to draw out the poison from her soul if you want to save it."

"You make it sound as though she's going to die."

"Make sure you take blossoms that are not fully open so they do not fall apart on your journey. Good luck, Sesshomaru." Bokuseno's face receded, and would not resurface from the smooth bark despite the taiyoukai's demands he come out and explain himself.

oOxXxOo

"So how old are you anyway? Did you grow up with Lord Sesshomaru-sama? Are there lots of tigers like you in China? I've only ever seen orange ones, in the storybooks at the castle. Did all your color go away?"

Lixue clenched her teeth a little tighter. It had been this way for the entire trip. She would much prefer to be conquering a well-manned fortress, alone and wounded, than constantly field the questions machine-gunned at her by the miniscule mortal. Alas, no fortresses were in sight; her only salvation was the promise of smoke on the horizon, a prim white cluster of plumes rising lazily into the blue, a promise that she intended to see fulfilled with every quickening step.

"Sesshomaru-sama told me about you once. I remember because I had found a fish that had all sorts of pretty colors and I couldn't keep it because it's a big responsibility. Jaken-sama said he would hit me if I tried to keep it, and said he'd eat it too. Jaken-sama—"

Lixue tilted her head to look at the girl. "Weren't you telling me something else?"

"Oh! Right!" Rin grinned. "Well, I was exploring the castle after Jaken-sama took away my fish and I found a secret hiding spot in the moon dial that goes under the gardens with lots of neat stuff inside. Lord Sesshomaru found me and told me that I shouldn't be in there because it could collapse and hurt me. I peeked when I went back outside and he was looking at something. I couldn't see what because of the dust but I heard him say something. I think it was your name, Li-san." Rin began hopping on one foot, chanting about dust and hidey holes with secrets inside before asking Lixue if it was a good story.

"That was, Rin." Lixue's steps slowed. She had forgotten. Every decade or so her father would take her on trips of diplomacy to Japan, spending the summer in the Inutaisho's castle while the lords hosted and attended various balls and feasts. The servants' children were boring and meek, and she had been disallowed to leave the castle grounds. It hadn't been very long at all before she decided that she would entertain herself with the lord's son.

_"I bet you're too high and mighty to get a little dirt under your claws, Sesshy." The cub tossed a clump of hard dirt at the irate puppy, slow enough to be dodged. "Don't call me that!" Sesshomaru growled in a high tenor. "Or what? You gonna come get me, or make your daddy do it?" She grinned as the puppy's chest swelled in indignant pride. "I'm the great Sesshomaru and I will not tolerate such disrespectful behavior." "If you're so great, prove it. I bet you can't dig a half-decent hole. Even the mortals' dogs can dig." The cub had goaded the puppy into games this way, teasing him until his pride wouldn't allow him to ignore her challenges. _

Over the years, the amount of goading dwindled away until they had begun to genuinely enjoy each other's company instead of tolerating it, digging secret forts together and practicing their hunting, gnawing on each other's tails and swatting with clumsy paws. They grew slowly as the long-lived are wont to do, her teasing losing its fangs and his tension releasing in response. They began to solidify, her into a shy (yet sassy) tigress and he into a proud and aloof dog, dipping their toes into their juvenile lives. It was then that their mutual childish affection began to be noticed by the court. An embarrassment, they said, glaring down their noses at the idea of an inuyoukai and a torayoukai. After that final summer, her father told her she was old enough to learn to take care of their castle on her own while he was gone on business. She hadn't stepped foot on Japanese soil since that day, following her father's instructions to put her childhood behind her and Sesshomaru with it.

The pair strode into the bustling town center, Lixue taking care not to lose Rin in the crowd. It was apparently market day; merchants cried out about their wares, infant wails and children's laughter, hagglers arguing the price of a bolt of cloth or a basket, the sharp canto of horse hooves, drums and bells of performers. Lixue missed the quiet of the forest, wishing she could dull her hearing as she grasped Rin's hand to lead her to the allure of roasted fish.

The street cart in question stood at an angle to the crowd, offset from the road enough to be seen but not obstruct foot traffic. Lixue pushed aside the curtain, allowing Rin to sit down before entering, the faded red fabric swinging shut behind her. Spread before them were noodles and broths of great variety, roasted fish and onions and mushrooms, cuts of roast piglet and cabbage. The kitsune (disguised as an elderly man) coolly acknowledged the tigress with an incline of his head before asking what they would like. Rin looked up at Lixue with pleading eyes. Lixue placed a few coins on the worn counter and told her to have whatever she wanted, ordering a bowl of pork and fish ramen for herself.

Rin rivaled the tigress herself with the voracity in which she inhaled the noodles, eating what seemed to be her body weight in the warm and salty noodles, chicken and vegetables, drowning it in a sea of white tea and broth. When they had eaten their fill, Lixue paid and asked the kitsune where she might find armor and weapons from the mainland for sale. He pointed her to a shop a few streets over, voicing a recommendation on the human's character and quality of goods.

The shop was open-air, facing the stream hung with paper lanterns and tiny metal discs, catching the light and tinkling gently over the sound of running water. Rin crouched by the water, watching her broken reflection and dipping her hands into the cool wetness. Lixue was warmly greeted by the shopkeeper, a thin man with a wispy mustache and slender fingers but a witty shine in his eyes.

Lixue was pleased to hear that he had several sets of Chinese armor in stock, and asked what she had in mind. She showed him the remaining amount of ill-gotten money in her pouch, and he frowned slightly.

"This is not much to go with." He counted the coin again and pursed his lips. "I do have a set of armor from the Jin dynasty that was traded to me yesterday. If you don't mind its age, it's solidly built. Mountain-pattern." He shuffled into the back room, and she looked at the weapons on offer, pausing before a sword-and-hook. She picked it up to examine it more closely.

"Ah, that one." He had returned, holding a package wrapped in oilcloth. "That sword and hook weapon has been here for years. Has a reputation for attracting demons. Tried to get it exorcised once, but the monk couldn't do anything about it. Half off." He set the package down and began to unwrap it, revealing a set of medium armor that had obviously been well cared for, with only a few spots of rust on the otherwise pristine metal. The plates covering the chest and shoulders were a deep green color, accented with striations of blue and gold along the edges and the faint raised image of a tiger stalking across the chest. The arms and leg pieces were the same deep blue and gold as the accents, green and dark leather fastenings glinting with the metal. The boots and gloves appeared to be made from black-dyed leather, hiding a plate of solid metal behind the fabric and golden studs.

She stroked the armor appreciatively. It was of exquisite make, and the tiger gave her no small amount of amusement. She glanced at the sword again. She had been attracted to it as the shopkeeper had said demons tended to be. She unsheathed the weapon and scrutinized the dark metal, smelling and feeling out its history as best as an untrained youkai could. If she had to guess, it either had a long history of use by evil hands or was crafted from metal found in corrupted soil. From its lack of rust, she leaned more toward the second possibility.

"I would like to take both the armor and this weapon. Will you accept this katana in exchange for the hook sword?" She untied the sheath from her hip and proffered the sword to the merchant, who appraised it with a masterful eye.

"This sword has been abused, but is salvageable." His tone was disapproving.

"I assure you that I was not the one to treat it so," she intoned. "Is it acceptable payment?"

He thought for a moment more. "The sword and the coin are sufficient payment for both."

She thanked him and she gathered her newish items together. He offered a side room to her to change in, saying he would keep an eye on Rin. She smelled no lie on him, and told the girl she would return soon.

She stepped into her new boots, finding with pleasure that they fit fairly well. The original owner must have been a petite officer, for the gloves and shoes were just this side of roomy, even more well-fitting when she found that the gloves did not have fingers but ended at her palm. She used the jade ribbon that had held the gloves in a pair to tie her hair up into a simple ponytail, showing off her pointed ears and keeping her hair out of the armor. She emerged from the room, tying her new sword to her hip and winding the hook-chain into neat coils near its hilt, the handsome black sheath bumping lightly against her thigh as she strode out proudly.

The shopkeeper's eyes flew to her ears and widened slightly, but only just barely so, and he graciously accepted her request to dispose of her old clothes however he saw fit. Rin gasped at Lixue's change of clothing.

"See, Li? I told you that you look good in blue!"

"Why are you calling me Li?"

**A/N: Finally out of those ratty, sweat-stained man clothes into something a bit more befitting a tigress! I'm working on the next chapter now, my pretties, so expect another update in the next 48 hours as an apology for my long absence.**


	9. Fearless and Forgotten

_Chapter Nine: Fearless and Forgotten_

**A/N: In case my readers have picked up on it, you'll see that sometimes Lixue doesn't remember things correctly or has a different point of view than what was actually happening. Her senses are hearing-based, whereas the canines are more scent-based. Taizu-centric portions are from a blind perspective until he touches the mirror, and his memories from a young boy's perspective, tainted by bitterness. Pretty much the only character who remembers things 100% accurately and objectively is the tree. Also, I mention a warrior princess in this chapter – she really existed. I recommend reading about her. Onward!**

On the first night, Monk Taizu could not sleep.

On the second, he dreamt of slaughter.

_The air was thick with smoke and blood, charred bodies turning to ash, flying up the nose and coating the lungs with fear. The sunset's hue painting his father's castle in a banner of crimson, glazing every color into red and deeper red, the fading light fierce and fleeting. The gunpowder was long since gone, fire lances useless in the face of the massive tiger's wrath. A man's frenzied screams as he was ruthlessly grabbed from the castle's wall and thrashed to and fro by his arm, the guttural snarl and sick squelch and snap of bone as he was torn free from his limb to smash face first into the castle, a dull crunch as his spine splintered in two, a dark streak as he slumped motionless to the dirt. The massive tiger roared, sending a shockwave of fire and fear through the men. He watched helplessly from his tower window, the heat turning his face red, his stomach pinching with hunger. The tiger leapt to the battlements, sheer size knocking the guards screaming into the toothy pit lining the wall, rearing to send ten whips of incineration, wrapping the castle in dripping magma. Those unlucky enough to catch the whips were split apart, cauterized on contact; some weren't even lucky enough to die from it, saved from bleeding out only to be crushed underfoot. His nanny ushered him away from his window, but he could still hear the fighting. The snap and sever of great fangs, crushing solid armor like cheap foil, the stink of fear, the screams of dying horses, the noxious fumes creeping through his window, a poisonous promise of what was to come. Of what did come. All of it was a promise left fulfilled._

He awoke to a masculine hand shaking his shoulder, voice low but urgent. Miroku.

"Are you alright, Taizu?"

The monk nodded. "Is it morning?"

"Almost. Were you having a nightmare?"

"I was dreaming about the day Lixue killed my father." The hand dropped from his shoulder. "I'm alright now though. Thank you for waking me." He felt around for his mirror, and found it nestled against his bedroll.

Monk Taizu got to his feet, the mirror showing him that all except Miroku were dreaming still, stepping around them towards the river to meditate.

He sat near the dark waters, sitting on the cool earth with the mirror before him. He reached toward the mirror's consciousness, his efforts rewarded with the silky touch of the mirror against his mind.

_You are taking far too long to find the tiger, _the depth of voice chided him. _I require more of her soul. _

_I know that you desire it, _he responded. _But she is proving more difficult to find than I anticipated._

_Her soul sings in mourning. It grieves for a field of silver lilies, a castle near the sea, and the scent of yellow lotus. Find out if these things are connected. I hunger for a soul, and if you can't bring me hers, you will offer me yours in its place. _The mirror's consciousness withdrew from his.

Taizu leaned against the rock, muscles suddenly fatigued. The mirror had this effect on him – it siphoned bits of his spiritual energy to sustain itself enough to give him sight and speak to him. It was a fair trade but it was nonetheless draining, and sometimes he couldn't shake the feeling that the mirror was taking more than its usual share.

When the sun had well and truly decided to show up, he returned to the makeshift camp with his traveling companions, who greeted him warmly with bacon. He smiled appreciatively and bowed his head in thanks to Sango as she passed him a plate.

"Where will we go today?" Taizu spoke through a mouthful of grease and meat.

"Kagome needs to go back to her world, so we are headed to Kaede's village east of here." Miroku supplied.

"…her world?" Taizu frowned. "I don't follow."

"It's a little complicated, but I'm not from this time. I have to go back for school and to see my family." Kagome's response was happy, but wavering. "I'm not doing so hot in math right now. Or history, which is a little sad, since I'm living it…" She sighed. "Anyhow, I have to go back. The final exams are in a week and I need to bone up."

Taizu nodded, though he didn't completely understand. "How long will we be in this village?"

Shippou piped up. "Until Kagome gets back, usually."

He frowned. "But Lixue was headed west most recently. It won't do me any good to go east and stay still while she could be marauding villages or escaping back to the mainland."

Miroku propped his chin on his fist. "A lot of foot traffic goes by the village. We're more likely to hear if something big is going on if we're in a village than on the road. Lixue could have changed direction for all we know, and Kaede's village is pretty centrally located."

Taizu couldn't argue with the logic presented by the younger man, but the urgency instilled in him by the mirror's threat plagued his heart. "We mustn't stay for a week. She may find a way to destroy the mirror and reclaim her soul in every moment left unchecked."

"I'm sorry Taizu." Kagome's voice was soft. "I can just go back on my own and you guys can keep looking for her if you want. We can meet up after my exams are over."

"If you're sure, Kagome. We'll tell Inuyasha when he gets back." Sango patted her friend's shoulder.

"Thank you, Kagome. You don't know how much this means to me." Taizu smiled toothily.

"You're welcome, Taizu. I want Lixue to be found."

"Oh, that reminds me. Three things are connected to Lixue: silver lilies, a castle near a sea, and yellow lotus flowers. Are they connected with each other in any way that you know of?"

The others shook their heads in disappointment. He noted to himself to ask Inuyasha when he returned from scouting out the area. As the oldest member of the group (though you wouldn't know it for looking), he had the highest chance of knowing what these things meant.

oOxXxOo

"You never said not to go anywhere." Lixue studied the face of her childhood companion as he glowered at her, an odd expression for one carrying an armful of magnolia blossoms. "What are those for?"

Sesshomaru had returned to the clearing he had left Lixue and Rin in earlier that day on Ah-Un's back, Jaken riding on the rear, to find with a twinge of worry that they were long gone. He had tracked them a few miles south to the outskirts of a human town, relaxing by the stream. If he hadn't caught her scent, he would have struck her down – she looked entirely different in her new armor.

He watched her watch him, noting the change her attire brought out. Her silver eyes gleamed intelligently at him with hidden thoughts, her high-set ponytail sweeping back from her face. Her lips seemed fuller, the bone-bead collar settled primly on the armor. He had to admit to himself that she looked rather fantastic, the blue and green dark and seductive, an entirely different aura than the frumpish hakama she had donned before, the hip plates accentuating her muscular body in an oddly feminine way. _Since when is Lixue feminine?_

Her demeanor toward him had shifted rather drastically, as well – now, instead of glaring at him with every word spat in response, she seemed almost content with his return. He was suspicious of her, perhaps a tactic for some unknowable end.

He glanced at the flowers he had heaped in his arms. Bokuseno hadn't said how many blossoms he'd need, so he grabbed all the almost-open flowers he could carry – which, as it turned out, were quite a few. He'd lost about a third of them on the flight back, peppering the air behind him with the pearlescent blooms in his haste to return. He'd even filled one of Ah-Un's saddlebags.

"They're for tea." Sesshomaru did not acknowledge the way she raised her eyebrows.

"There's quite a bit there. And isn't magnolia _bark_ the order of the day when it comes to tea?" She smirked at him.

"Mind your tongue." He turned from her to Ah-Un, who huffed softly at the blooms in his master's arms before attempting to eat one – an action that earned the dragon a sharp rap on one of his noses.

Rin plucked a stray petal from the grass, turning it in every way to gleam sweetly in the sunlight. She sniffed the petal and bit into it experimentally. The petal's crisp aroma was the first thing she noticed, then a citrusy tang followed by a mild bitterness – she smiled. It was interesting, like Li.

Later that night, while Rin lie sleeping with Ah-Un and Jaken, Sesshomaru and Lixue watched each other across the fire. He broke it first, grasping the brand-new kettle when it began to whistle softly.

He had purchased it before they left town, insisting that they needed to have magnolia tea that very evening, double checking with the owner that they had everything they would need for tea while traveling. She had had a hard time keeping her amusement hidden – his sudden obsession with tea bordered unnatural, like some highborn aristocrat clinging to the last vestiges of civility, pouring tea ceremoniously in the middle of a war and kneeling in the mud. Regardless of the fact that he _was_ a highborn aristocrat, he hadn't shown the slightest interest in tea until he had shown up draped in magnolias demanding it. Rin had picked up on it too, but kept nibbling on stray petals, occasionally glancing up at Lixue and trying to hold her hand. Lixue would pull it free and step away… only to have the girl close the distance and slip her fingers into the armored palm of the tiger once more. They eventually settled on a wordless compromise of Rin holding on to Lixue's clawed index finger.

She watched with interest as he studied the magnolia blossom. He sniffed it and tasted the center experimentally, only to spit it out and discard it, choosing to study the petals in its stead. He noted the waxy outside, deciding to split it in half with his claw. He seemed proud of his handiwork – two halves of a petal plopped in the bottom of a teacup. She guessed that if he had desired tea, he probably had servants to do it for him, so this was an adventure in domestics. He glanced at her through his lashes before returning his attention to the task before him. She took a moment to study him, now that she remembered him more fully.

He had sharper features now, his markings accenting his elven face in a pleasant way. His hair was much longer, his mokomoko long and voluptuous, an unexpectedly soft feature in such a hard man. Like the girl. She looked at the sleeping form of Rin, wondering again how they had fallen in together. If he was aware that she was studying him, he did not let on, choosing to pour the water in a careful stream into the cup. He admired his handiwork, stirring the liquid lightly every few minutes while it steeped, before fishing out the petals and handing the cup to her brusquely. "Drink."

"Where's yours?" She gingerly plucked the cup from his outstretched claws, eyeing him with suspicion.

"I made it for you." His eyes darted to the fire, then her foot, then the trees beyond.

"That's not answering my question, Sesshomaru. I'm not drinking unless you have some first." She set the cup down on the grass, feeling the spike of displeasure through her tether.

"You will drink it." He growled.

"No." She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him, ignoring the growing discomfort from the beads. "Not unless you have some too."

They stared each other down, small leaps of electricity sprinting down her spine and causing the minute hairs on her neck to stand on end. His irritation gave way to a hint of amusement at her gall and he reached for the cup, taking a gentle sip to placate the tiger.

The sticky sweetness of the flower spread on his tongue, a strong taste for such a small amount. Honey and lemon, with just a hint of vanilla – nameless tastes – but a taste pleasing to the palate, a caress before the gentle bite of bitterness. With eyebrows raised, he returned the cup to the tigress, settling closer to her so as to not reach quite so far. She accepted it, watching him closely until he opened his mouth to show her that he had, indeed, swallowed.

Satisfied, she sniffed the tea, the hint of Sesshomaru's saliva a subtle overture to the magnolia blossom… the word that crossed her mind was _seductive_ but she pushed that idea right out of her head. This was Sesshomaru we're talking about – she doubted he'd had a romantic feeling in his life. Maybe mild interest. _Maybe_.

She drew the tea across her lips slowly, then more deeply, as the myriad flavors poked at her nose. She closed her eyes, an odd feeling taking over her. She… she was _sad._ It was a simple word, but potent nonetheless. Opening her eyes, she furrowed her brow at the empty cup, then at Sesshomaru, whose face was oddly blank. She was struck again by an awareness of loss.

He hadn't had much of the tea, but he had eaten some of the petals. Unlike Lixue, he was aware of what was happening – the power of Bokuseno unwrapping hidden things, peeling away the tightly curled leaves to reveal the bud sleeping within.

Lixue closed her eyes again, the grief and longing washing in then out again; coming and going as waves breathing to the shore from the lungs of the ocean.

_In. _Her father smiling with pride when she bested him in battle for the first time. He hugged her close, reeking of sweat and blood, not caring that she wasn't fully reverted – he embraced his teenaged daughter and whispered to her that she had done well.

_Out. _He's gone now. He's been gone for years. Why was she thinking about him now? It was a most inopportune time.

_In. _Confiding to Sesshomaru in the boughs of an ancient magnolia tree that she was afraid that she wouldn't be the sophisticate her father wanted her to be, that he wouldn't be proud of her.

_Out. _It had been a foolish worry – her father was proud of her. He loved her. He'd be proud of her today if he were still alive. …Right?

_In. _The impatient passing of seasons in China, watching the spring blossoms wither with impatience for the summer as she was learning the proper manner for pouring tea.

_Out. _Of course she was distracted with outside, who wanted to be trapped indoors learning how to best curry the favor of some lordly cousin's wife's sister? Summer meant adventure and freedom.

_In. _Summer meant Sesshomaru.

_Out. _He was there too, sure. She didn't wait for summer to bum around a foreign castle with a frigid pup when she couldn't even leave.

_In. _

The wave didn't exhale. She shivered with the intensity of it.

_Summer meant Sesshomaru. Summer meant father. The endless days of winter giving way to mere hours of lilies, the castle by the sea, the impatient wriggling of a girl for her father's bedtime stories while the pup slept beside her on a dare for the second week in a row. She would curl up with him in his mokomoko while her father sat beside the bed, telling grand adventures of the warrior princess Pingyang of the Tang dynasty. _

_She missed the summer terribly. Why had she forgotten? _

Sesshomaru breathed out slowly beside her, closer than she remembered him being before. Had he moved? She turned her head, nearly coming nose to nose with the inuyoukai; his eyes were shut, his nostrils flaring as he breathed in again – utter concentration on his face and close enough to share his heat. She squeaked, a decidedly non-tiger thing to do, and his eyes flew open – tawny and reflective of the flames – he straightened and seemed to come to himself, the stiffness of his spine and sudden disinterest in tigress a complete switch from only moments before. What was going on?

Her mind was tugged in every direction, all at once with great ferocity – _I miss father, I miss Sesshomaru, I want to go home, I haven't a home to go to, I'm nothing without the rest of my soul I'll kill that priest who does he think he is pleasepapaImissyou – _she groaned deep in her throat and sprang away from the fire and the familiar stranger it held in its light.

She did not know where she ran; she knew only that she had to run. Shrouded in the sharp, the fog, the horrible keening tearing from her core; strip the guise of humanity, rip the raw throat of her sadness but it doesn't die – why won't it die?! – the roaring and snapping of the trees, slicing thin marks into the fur and mud. Clamber and leap through the river, the rocks, desperately clinging and clawing her way from the rush of emotion she couldn't afford to have. Nothing was familiar, a dark and hostile forest for the dark and hostile beast.

She could hear Sesshomaru following her path, waiting for her to spend her anguish, the scent of him comforting and terrifying and unwanted and dreadfully needed.

The tigress ran, fighting and fleeing from her mortal soul.


	10. The Song I Wanted to Write with You

_Chapter Ten: The Song I Wanted to Write with You_

Two hundred and fifty seven years apart. One hundred and seventy years together, once every ten years. Seventeen summers. That was all they had shared, a mere breath in space, a single leaf amongst the tree, a single flower.

The sweetest flower in all the field.

Her thoughts poured unbidden, unwanted, numbers and memories and withering loss and terrible anger, unlocked by some force and inexorable beyond measure.

_Sing to me, my zhanshi. Show papa your pretty fangs._

Xiao zhanshi – little fighter. His tiny warrior. The slate cub that would not obey any who did not earn it first, squalling with miniscule rage when lifted single handedly by her nape and swiping at the air with stubby paws. He laughed, pointed incisors moist in the candlelight.

Lixue ordered her muscles be faster, her leaps farther, the trees themselves to leave her path – iron muscles before iron muscles, every leap a predecessor to endless leaps behind it. Her mouth gaped, frothing and glinting in the sparse moonlight, her eyes rolling and wild, white-ringed and daring any to cross their path as fire tore through wind water and earth alike.

And yet she could not lose him, the shadow of men stretching on the ground behind her. Sun-warmed fur descending in the night, persistence and persistence again. Lotus.

_Go and apologize to your mother before I drag you in there myself. It is unbecoming of a lady to act in such a manner. _

Always her father's voice – why didn't anyone else speak?

She did not register the battlefield until she was almost upon it – fire and blood in the moonlight – cheaply outfitted soldiers of poor lords seeking to increase their status by attacking each other into poverty.

She bore down through the center of it, blue flames blossoming from her flanks, dripping from fangs, distraction for moments at least. The confusion was immediate and palpable, tasting of sulphurous copper, delightful and maddening; they scattered, panicked beetles from the fire, vermin, quarrel forgotten as both sides turned to flee together.

_My father says tigers and dogs don't sing together. He glanced coyly at her, fangs peeking out from his lips. Sing with me, Lixue. It's a song I only want to sing with you._

She knew Sesshomaru watched, and she could not care. _Let him see. He said I'm not who I used to be – let him see how right he is. _Sinking her fangs into the man before her, she jerked him from his panicked steed and placed a furred paw over his legs, hooking claws into meat and pulling his body in the opposite direction. Test the resilience, stretching… before… the splitting of flesh, screeching and fine mist of blood, screams swallowed with the body down her throat. Tattered strips of flesh hanging as laundry from the line, sharp bones dyed pink and tan, long ropes of intestine looping into thick pools to be lapped up by a hook-covered tongue. Ream the delicate from the shell, warmth stolen for a day. Crush another as he crawls, his pleas of _no, please, I have a family, _exploding in her mouth with his skull. The body goes limp, discarded and slumping grossly onto the dirt. _Waste._

She thundered long, laboriously, her eyes filling with heat that dripped from her face. She closed them against it, fury and fear infecting her voice. _Sing for me. _Tainted words.

For a tainted beast.

oOxXxOo

She rumbled through her marrow, through the moon's passing into the pale blush of dawn, broken into cries low and shuddering. Fur receding into the skin with faint itch and prickle, heat and wet coursing in equal measure from within her while she sank into the blooded dirt and carrion.

He hadn't moved since coming to stand behind her, watching her. She didn't turn to see his face. _What he must think of me…_ _of who I am now. The past doesn't matter anymore, not now. I should just wait here in the mud for the mirror to take the rest of my soul. I haven't anything left._

Sesshomaru regarded her as she bitterly grieved, her shoulders collapsing toward her body and her back bowed. _The tea did this._

Soft touches, feathery and erratic. She turned to see his hand poised on the very edge of her shoulder, perching the claws and the very tips of the fingers like it might fly away at any moment. She sought his eyes in the low light, half hidden in a curtain of silver.

"Please."

_Please. _The single word echoed into time, long ago the days of her youth, the last thing he had said to her in that fateful summer. _Please don't go._ He had held her hand tightly then, as if his grip alone could make her stay.

She robbed a shuddering breath from her lungs. "I'm here."

Words that made no sense, in a time that didn't belong – he lifted her from the dirt carefully, a gallant gesture unnecessary, her heart ticking in her chest, then… nothing. He hadn't released her hand, almost unsure what was to be done with it, leaving them standing together in the evidence of her slaughter with tears still fresh on her face; neither here nor there.

They walked slowly, sometimes taking foot trails through the forest, sometimes taking the path she had forged in her desperate flight from him. He let go of her hand and she walked a few paces behind, only touching when he made sure she didn't slip on the slicked rocks in the water. Eyes never meeting.

_What did you expect, you stupid woman? _She berated herself. _He's a childhood friend. He didn't want you crying in the dirt while he was bound to stay by you after you stupidly ran off. What do you even want from him? _

She watched him walk before her. _He's grown so much. With his power and status, he probably has no end of women trying to get him to be their mate. They wanted to sing for him when I was gone. More when I wasn't._

She had never understood the obsession with the moon that the canines held, lifting muzzles in the dark to thread their bodies with gold. Layer upon layer of simple richness, singing in the basest tongue of adoration and longing, joyousness and suffering. Every note meant nothing and everything. And it had everything to do with the moon.

The sweetness of the broken grass kissed her nose, the sun finally breaking on the horizon, as the pair returned to the remains of the fire. She hadn't run very far at all, a frenzy that lasted mere miles before the battlefield. Everything was as they had left it, the kettle turned over in the soot from where she presumed her sudden bolt had pushed it. Rin and Jaken were waking slowly, Ah-Un trumpeting a hello to his returning master.

Rin rubbed her eyes vigorously with the back of her wrists, shuffle-running to the youkai pair. "Rin wondered where Sesshomaru-sama and Li-san went!"

Lixue glanced at Sesshomaru's stony expression. "I wandered off thinking about something, and Sesshomaru-sama was bringing me back." She turned to look at the girl. "Are you hungry?"

Rin nodded emphatically before dashing to Ah-Un's saddlebags.

Sesshomaru looked at her then. "You needed no help finding your way here."

She kept facing ahead. "I wasn't referring to my body."

"Hnn."

oOxXxOo

The day passed slowly, returning to a hint of normalcy as the magnolia passed through their systems. Rin continued to munch on the waxy petals, her honest nature unchanged by their magic. Sesshomaru had instructed Jaken to clean and pack the kettle, saving the petals for the next night he would use them, until she caught on to the reason for her sudden changes. Perhaps next time the result would be a little less… explosive.

Lixue trailed behind the group, not caring where they were going, only barely keeping Rin's cheerful kimono in sight. She curved her path, sometimes stopping to lie down on a warm rock or shooting forward in a random direction only to fall back again. She didn't respond to Rin's calls, the girl's voice the thin reed of birdsong, and eventually she stopped calling.

oOxXxOo

"I need to reclaim the rest of my soul."

Sesshomaru did not turn from his seat by the fire, Rin long past asleep and its light dwindling. Jaken eyed her, clutching the staff of two heads across his lap with more sincerity. She had been flitting just on the edge of Sesshomaru's senses all day, a strange little dance that had made his mark maddeningly active then dormant with rapid succession as she tested the limits of her leash. It was only now, the long sigh of daylight long passed and stars holding silent counsel above them, that she approached from behind him.

Her shadowed voice held no hint to her demeanor. "I have been wasting time while the monk gathers strength and allies. I need to reclaim my soul before he tracks me here and takes the rest of it. I will run no longer."

Sesshomaru blinked slowly at the fire, knowing the answer before asking. "Then why don't you go?"

A hint of a growl at his back. "I would have already. If you haven't forgotten, I can't leave without you willing it, and even then just barely."

The stillness once more.

Sesshomaru knew her thoughts without her voicing them, her scent giving her away.

She was unsure what she had expected. _I can't just expect him to drop whatever it is he's doing, leave behind his wards, and wander around looking for a priest with a soul-stealing mirror just because I asked him to. _

"Sit down." His eyes sought hers, the tiger's eyes twin flames, reflecting the light to glow amongst the blackness. An order without emphasis.

Her fragrance a wake behind her motion, she gingerly sat beside him at arm's length.

"What will you do when you find the monk?"

She brought her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them as she cradled herself. "I don't know, smash his mirror I guess."

He lifted the kettle from its home amongst the outer coals, careful to only put half a petal in her tea this night. He knew she would return.

She gripped the teacup lightly, inspecting the liquid as it steamed.

"Sesshomaru?"

"Hnn."

"Why are you giving me these petals?"

"You do not like them?"

"Don't play like you don't know what they do to me."

He was silent.

From the corner of her eye, she could see him look into the fire, his hands uncharacteristically toying with the edge of his sleeves. _Will he tell me the truth, knowing I can smell a lie? Or perhaps he has mastered the aristocrat half-truth. _

"This Sesshomaru will not tell you."

"If you tell me why, I may drink it."

Her demure attitude seemed to confuse him. "You do not do things because it pleases others."

She shrugged. "If it's a good enough reason."

"Hnn."

"Well?" she urged him.

"You are aware that I can simply not tell you what want to know and will you to drink it, whether you wish to or no."

"I am. Doesn't mean I can't ask."

"You will not have an answer; you will drink." Sesshomaru clicked his claws together, his eyes distant. "Do not make me force you."

A sigh. "Will you at least say 'please'?"

"No."

She looked down into the tea again. Fighting with him over this small thing was futile, and she was tired. The water was lukewarm as it passed down her throat, the foreign sensations filling her again in a softer motion.

She sat with Sesshomaru, allowing her eyes to close as her perceptions shifted and realigned to break again.

"Sesshomaru?" No response.

"I missed you."

"Hnn."

"I guess you didn't miss me, huh?" She flopped to her back, watching the stars swell to massive proportion before retracting again in a lazy wave. "Figures."

She sat up to unbuckle her armor, the metal plates thunking mutely on the grass before she shoved them away with her foot. "I could say I don't care if you missed me or not but I'm not sure. Things changed a lot. And now they're changing again."

She turned her profile to face him, giving him an uncharacteristic jolt of concern. Not for his life, but from the intent glowing in her mercury eyes as she crawled closer.

"Sesshomaru."

"What."

"I want to sleep in your mokomoko again."

"Why?"

"It's soft. And it smells like you."

He didn't give his permission, but she reached across him for it anyhow, gently petting it and brushing it against her face. With a long-suffering sigh, he slid it from his shoulder for her. If this was his part to guiding her back, so be it.

She leaned against his side, wrapping her neck and torso in the luscious fur with what could only be described as soft purring. Her body was warm, the cloth freed from her armor smooth and pleasant. He sat stiffly, mediating his breathing and holding the weight of both of their bodies erect.

"Wha – Sesshomaru, do you only have one arm?" She sat upright, peeking through his sleeve to confirm it. "What happened?"

Her shock and concern was palpable, and completely unlike the new her – sensationalized by the influence of the magnolia, no doubt – but he shook his head minutely.

"I will tell you tomorrow when you're feeling better."

She settled back into his side, brow furrowed. "The magnolia makes me think about things I don't want to. Mostly about father… you too."

He knew; he had felt the same urges the night before, an experience he did not desire to repeat.

She buried her face into the fur, curling her body to press against him more fully. "I know you don't like me anymore, Sesshy. I didn't want to leave. Papa wouldn't let me come back. That's probably not why you're mad though."

"I am not angry with you, Lixue."

"Sure you are. You don't look at me, and you don't talk to me either. You didn't even look happy to see me again."

"I had just been stabbed."

"That doesn't mean you couldn't say 'it's good to see you again' or something. I missed you. I already said that, though." She sighed. "I'm babbling. You did this to me, for some reason. Do you want me to tell you the secrets to kill me? Well it wouldn't be hard. You could just will be to be still and let you kill me and I'd have to eventually. Maybe you could tell me to kill myself. I don't have all of my soul, so you know, I'm pretty easy pickings already. If—"

"Lixue." He broke in. "Be quiet."

"Oh."

He skimmed the form leaning against him. She was staring hard into the darkness, gripping tightly to his mokomoko as if trying to hold herself in. Like she might fly apart into a million pieces.

"It's good to see you again." He murmured, gaze leaving her body. Her taut grip was relaxed, becoming pliant again against him. So strange and so simple.

It was only after she had closed her eyes and drifted away that he relaxed his stiff position, leaning over to look at her face. The hard creases between her eyes were smooth, showing how young she really was. It was hard to remember sometimes that she was just barely an adult, nearly a century his junior.

He cocked his head to view her profile more fully, strands of his hair pulling across to mingle with her own. She had retained the roundness of cheek from her youth, her jaw longer than before but only adding a small amount of maturity to her structure. She would look young much longer than she should.

The diamond and inverted arch were her father's, the slashes between them probably came from her mother. He had never met her, but Lixue never seemed to miss her so he hadn't had much curiosity about it. He pushed her bangs aside to view it more fully, admiring its rich crimson hue. She had no other markings, but this was acceptable. It was unusual in its complexity.

Her beaded necklace rested half hidden by the sapphire folds of her clothing and the cream of his fur, a deceptive fragility to them that held the power to subdue a taiyoukai like her with little more than a thought. They whispered an odorous tint of bone and magic.

She sighed, pressing closer to his warmth and breathing his scent deeply as if to assure herself that he was still there.

In her sleep, she was his Lixue again.

Her eyebrows lifted in her sleep, an 'o' forming in her mouth as she muttered.

"No, Sesshomaru, don't eat _that_…"

**A/N: I couldn't resist.**


	11. It's Not about Compromise

_Chapter Eleven: It's Not about Compromise_

**A/N: Audience! I'll let you get back to your regularly scheduled misfortune and angst, but first: a message from our writer (that's me.) I love responding to most reviews, so please sign them! I can't do it if you don't! It gives me a complex! I start using up all my exclamation points! **

**In case you guys are wondering how long this fic will be, we're about 1/10****th**** of the way there in my cursory thoughts. I make up each chapter as I go and I have like… two… major points I want to make that are concrete, but those will happen like twenty to forty chapters in the future. My current estimate for how many chapters East of the Crescent Moon will have is 100… or so… I don't know. So buckle up kids. It's a wild ride that I reread to find holes to shove twists in. :P**

Her dreams were unusually vivid, colors of a richer hue and sharper edge than reality. She dreamt of days that never happened, of pounces and wild chases through castles she had never known and flowers that were strange and had no name, with those who were not there in her youth – her mother, adorned in golden and sapphire butterflies, and Rin, who clutched onto Lixue's cub feet and giggled at their softness. They romped with no world beyond each other, the tigers and the human girl who followed a dog, the light within reflecting the light without.

She awoke without opening her eyes, her mind half asleep, surrounded by the warmth of fur and a steadily beating heart. Her first thought was that it was her father, sleeping with her in his true form as they did in colder nights when she was young. She smiled and buried her face deeper into the warmth, realizing that the scent was wrong at about the same time that she felt a soft growl.

Recollection of the previous night rushed in to line up in her memory, errant soldiers caught napping. She lifted her face from the fur and peeked at Sesshomaru's expression, a difficult task in the dark hours of early morning. However, despite her initial impression, his face was not tense, and he did not turn toward her. She experimentally rubbed her cheek on the silky fur, rewarded with another hushed growl. _Maybe he likes that._ The thought made her grin. He couldn't even be happy without sounding cross.

Her smile faded. "Sesshomaru, have you been up all night?"

"We are not in familiar territory and need to keep watch," he grunted.

She sat up, missing his body's warmth but keeping the mokomoko draped snugly around her shoulders. "This is the second night in a row. You should sleep tonight. I'll keep watch."

He eyed her. "I do not require sleep."

"You don't trust me while you're asleep?" She guessed. His silence was answer enough. Her cheeks pinked and she extracted herself from his fur to stand.

"I see." She bent forward, willing the change. It was much more draining without adrenaline to push her, her body swelling and stretching while carpeting itself with thick blue-gray fur and charcoal stripes. She affixed his amber eyes with hers, the words unspoken but deafening. _I trusted __**you.**_

The big cat turned and trotted away, low-slung ribcage swaying between her hips and shoulders, white-tipped tail twitching in irritation. He mentally sighed. _Cats._

oOxXxOo

She trotted at an easy pace, extending the leash as far as it would allow and then some. She crouched at the edge of a small lake, lapping up the water and watching the ripples grow and intersect, droplets forming and falling from her lips. The beads were hugging her neck tightly, their pressure enough that had they been sharp she would bleed. She did not wish to return just yet, knowing that he would not care if she returned at all. A small part of her hoped that her absence was making his mark uncomfortable.

She rested by the water's edge, watching the fish in their lazy dances and contemplating her situation. She could not do much without Sesshomaru's help – regardless of if he fought with her, she could not stray from him without his express wishes to do so. Without being able to find him, the monk would find her first; unless she was on alert at all times, she would miss her opportunity to strike a killing blow before his mirror claimed the rest of her. Even if that day never came, she would be unable to rest completely without the knowledge that she was missing a portion of her soul and weakened. She could not call herself a great yaoguai if the day came that she just accepted her loss and lived the life of one incomplete.

She growled and rolled onto her side, her lithe body flat against the dirt and the newborn wind tousling her fur. She hated this. Even with a better captor than she had the right to ask for, she was still captive. She had inherited her mother's wanderlust and spirit, a small but vicious tigress whose fire had caught her father's heart and never let it go. She had been a true tigress, taking whatever mates she pleased, using charm and strength in equal measure to sate her desire. She did not love Lixue's father, her loyalty ultimately to herself. It was her desire for freedom that had spurred her to delegate the raising of her daughter to the father, completely reversed from the natural order of things – of course, it was hardly a usual scenario of tiger love with her father's unnatural devotion. Tigresses took their lovers on whims, raising cubs alone. Lixue should have known her father only in name. Perhaps the fact that her father raised her with the same devotion he felt for his mate, one unreciprocated, was what had turned Lixue callous to her mother. Despite his best efforts, Lixue did not respect her; after she had died, Lixue did not mourn her.

Thinking of her mother brought Lixue's dream to the forefront of her mind. The warm feelings that had encompassed her were ghosted now, an odd habit of vivid dreams, and made Lixue curious about Rin's appearance in the ether of her unconscious mind. She hadn't had a friend since Sesshomaru; she hadn't needed one, she knew. But that had been when she was secure in her place in the world, her father's tutelage encompassing everything from tactics to history and the use of various weapons. She had always favored the combination of a short sword with a pointed chain-whip, and the appearance of the one she had left at camp was a most fortuitous coincidence. Her mind drifted to Rin once more. If there was anything for her to do, perhaps teaching the young girl to defend herself was one such endeavor. It would stave off her boredom and perhaps soften Sesshomaru's suspicions.

She soon became aware that the pressure on her neck had subsided. Sesshomaru was on the move in her direction. She was downwind from him, carrying his scent to her where she would not normally have been able to sense him. She tasted the air, sitting up and shaking off clumps of damp dirt, intending to approach him with her idea to train Rin, when she caught an unfamiliar scent intermingling with his.

Her pupils dilated in the rising dark and she crouched instinctually. This scent was unnatural, a cloying pungency of miasma and feather cartilage. She slunk into the forest, keeping the scents upwind from her to conceal her presence. The tiger ghosted over the ground, her wraithlike footsteps silenced even more by the soft padding of springy moss that carpeted the forest floor. Her heart beat steadily in her ears, the excitement of a hunt and the danger that accompanied it shooting adrenaline directly into her bloodstream. Her low-flung loping was slowed into a creep, nearly crawling in the shadow as her prey came into view.

She halted, anger bubbling to the surface before she swallowed it back down. Sesshomaru was speaking to another demon, a female with feathers in her hair and holding a fan. She reeked of poison and deceit, Lixue quashing an urge to growl in the interest of keeping her position concealed. The demoness spread her fan, half hiding her cheek in a subtle motion as she tilted her body at an angle to his. Sesshomaru spoke again, Lixue's acute hearing lifting his voice to her above the wind's insolent whistling.

"Why do you need my help, Kagura?"

The demoness, now identified as Kagura, twisted her fan shut as she replied – it shifted the wind, twisting it so that Lixue lost her thin grip on their conversation for a moment. The tiger strained harder to reconnect to the exchange, managing it after precious moments of hearing only the impertinent breeze.

"…that you should know." Kagura turned and grasped one of the feathers in her hair before tossing it up into the air. It expanded several times over and she climbed aboard, leaning over to wink at the inuyoukai before departing. Lixue's hackles rose, her ears going flush with her skull in distaste. The tigress was suddenly aware that she should not remain, turning and melting into the forest once more in retreat now that the possible threat was gone.

She returned to the lakeside, mind sprinting in every direction but arriving at the same questions. _Who is this Kagura? What connection does she have with Sesshomaru? Why does this matter so much to me?_ She shook her head with vigor, pacing at a swift walk as she interrogated herself, finally concluding that if Sesshomaru did not see her as a threat, it did not concern her. Despite that, however, she still felt a sharp twinge of anger at the thought of the way that Kagura had looked at him. It was an unusual feeling and Lixue chalked it up to wanting to protect her life by keeping her link to Sesshomaru with him. She was absolutely sure that with her luck, if somehow Sesshomaru were to be injured, her bonding would be passed to his aggressor.

Rationalizing her emotions eased them somewhat, enough for her cease her pacing and stand staring into the forest where she was increasingly aware of Sesshomaru's approach. The slash of white and red against the green announced his presence, and she found herself pleased that he had taken a different path than she had. She didn't think about his superior nose when leaving the conversation – she should have gone somewhere else after and at least made it less obvious that she had come and then left. He stopped, looking at her in a way that she knew meant 'come here.'

She lifted her lip slightly at him, but approached. She was still annoyed with him for that morning's insult and did not wish to be too close to him now that her perceived danger had passed. Reminding herself of the demoness pushed her mood further south, the tiger's anger festering slowly like coals deep in her belly by the time she was deemed close enough for him to speak.

He pretended not to notice her irritation; either that or it did not bother him. "You will care for Rin for the next few days. I will be taking Jaken and Ah-Un. Do not leave this forest." She registered a mild amusement that he had taken care to specify this time.

"Why do you entrust her to me?" She questioned.

"You cannot hope to disobey the binding, and I require Jaken and Ah-Un's accompaniment." His face was impassive, but she detected a mild irritation from his scent, so she pressed him no further. This was what she wanted, after all; a chance to spend some time away from him and sort out what his magnolias were doing to her. She recalled her earlier idea and summoned her sadly neglected diplomacy.

"As you say. While you are away, I had considered training Rin in self-defense." She left her statement open-ended, noting that while he hadn't expected her offer, he was contemplating it in its entirety before responding.

"In what manner would you train her?"

"In the way that I was trained, with considerations to her age and abilities." This was the polite way of saying _'young and human'_. She had been fighting since she could stand on all four paws with only slight wobbling. "We'd concentrate on Góuquán, the style I specialize in, which emphasizes on takedowns and ground fighting – taking away an enemy's height advantage would be a great boon to her. I used it on you more than once."

He thought a moment more. "You will only teach her hand-to-hand. No weapons." She inclined her head in response. He turned on his heel back in the direction he had come from, expecting her to follow behind him. She gazed upward, the mid-spring wind losing its warmth and the morning sky dark with the insinuation of rain. Her sigh was lost in the rustling of the dancing trees.

oOxXxOo

Rin had greeted them as they had returned, as cheerful as ever. When questioned where she had been the day before, Lixue half-lied and said she had needed time to think. While it had been true, it was not why she was gone. She had been angry and confused by the magnolia's influence, desiring freedom but unable to get it; she had fought the leash and taken time to think in equal measure.

The demoness, now in her human form, sat down heavily on the grass. Just a few hours prior, she had been sleeping against Sesshomaru's side; now, she didn't want to be near him, especially after Kagura's appearance. The momentary conversation about Rin's training had passed and she no longer needed to speak to him, and apparently the feeling had been mutual, as he hadn't seen fit to speak to her since their return. Why this bothered her, or why it would wound her so at the admittance of his distrust for her, she could only begin to theorize. Regardless of if her mind could apply logic to it, the heart continued to ache.

Sesshomaru and Jaken sat astride Ah-Un, the two-headed dragon upset at missing out on breakfast but compliant all the same. Lixue did not intend to say farewell but found herself glancing over her shoulder at them when the dragon lifted from the ground, her heart pounding to a halt. Sesshomaru was gripping her with an intense stare, unwavering and almost as though he was trying to memorize her. She dropped her gaze from his, feeling her heart start up again in an erratic staccato. _What was that?_

Regaining her composure, she lifted her head skyward once more and watched the dragon streak off into the southeast with its riders, disappearing rapidly into the ashen sky.

oOxXxOo

"Well, Rin," Lixue started, dusting her hands and placing them on her crossed legs, "Today you start your training."

"Training, Li-san?" The girl pointed at her nose as if asking 'me?'

"I'm going to teach you Góuquán. You will be able to fend for yourself if another human tries to hurt you."

"Not demons too?" Rin knew better than to assume that humans would never hurt her – firsthand.

"Not usually, no. Most demons are more powerful than humans in direct combat. If you are threatened by a demon without me or Sesshomaru to protect you, you must get away." Lixue presented this information flatly, not realizing that she had just effectively proclaimed herself the girl's protector.

"What does.. go… that word mean?" Rin sat down neatly before Lixue, placing her hands on Lixue's foot.

"Góuquán? Hm. It means…" Lixue tapped her chin. "It means 'dog kung fu'." She grinned. "It seems a little odd that a human who follows a dog is being taught by a tiger how to fight like a dog, in the style of a human."

Rin blinked at her. Lixue supposed she could have spoken that more slowly.

"Anyway," she cleared her throat, "This technique was developed by a Buddhist nun near where I grew up. She had… hurt feet, so this style uses takedowns and ground fighting instead of kicks and the sort to defend her from bandits and wild animals." Rin smiled at her. "Do you want to learn how to defend yourself?"

"Rin doesn't need to defend herself, Sesshomaru-sama saves Rin." She stated matter-of-factly.

"Regardless of that, one day he may not be able to or too far away. What will you do then?"

"Li-san will protect Rin, or Jaken-sama or Ah-Un!" She beamed.

Lixue rested her head on her chin. If only she had the level of confidence in others that this girl had; it would have been a great way to die a long time ago. "Don't you want to be able to fight like me?"

"Like Li-san?" Rin rocked back on her rear before nodding emphatically. "Yeah!"

Lixue regarded Rin sternly. "We will have to work on fundamentals first before we get into the actual fighting."

Rin flexed her twiggy arms. "Rin's ready!"

Lixue smiled. "First things first; let's get you started with the proper stance."


	12. A Lullaby of Solace and Solitude

_Chapter Twelve: A Lullaby of Solace and Solitude_

**A/N: I'm considering updating this story to be categorized under Sesshomaru ****_and_**** Rin, since she's becoming a bigger part of the story than I originally thought; what do you think? PM me!**

Kagome patted Kirara's biscuit-hued fur, signaling the fiery cat to drop down to the ground. "Thanks Kirara, I'll walk from here!" She smiled at the demon, who mewled in response before turning and flying back the way she came. Kagome hefted her yellow backpack higher onto her shoulders before setting off at a brisk pace. This was Inuyasha's forest, one she was familiar with; she wanted to spend a spell alone before going back to her own time. The late afternoon sky was flush with clouds, their dark billows pregnant with rain and the spring air blowing low and cool, but dry.

She hummed to herself as she cut through the forest toward Kaede's village, admiring the forest's spring coat – a ballad of flower buds and uncurling tendrils, birds declaring their tiny love songs and puffing their feathered chests. She strode peaceably through the amiable wood, the daylight slipping away to the mountains in the west as she felt the first droplet of rain on her hand.

"This can't be good," she muttered to herself, taking off her backpack to rummage for her umbrella but unable to locate it amongst her piles and piles of _things. _The rain began to drop more earnestly, thunder rumbling on the horizon and the wind picking up its pace. She squeaked and put her backpack back on her shoulders, making for the nearest cavern – one she knew was hollowed into a cliff nearby and sheltered with large tented boulders – to wait out the impending storm.

The rain began to fall in sheets as she ran, turning the grass slippery and limiting her eyesight. She sprinted when the cliff came into view, arms flung over her head and wind gusting so as to try and push her over. She dashed into the cave as a massive blast of thunder and lightning shore the sky above her, dropping her sodden backpack onto the ground and panting as she leaned against the entryway. Regaining her breath, she opened her eyes to see a flicker of warm light against the wall to her right, its source from around the bend just inside the cavern's lip. She picked up her bow and held it tightly as she crept to peek around into the hollow, preparing herself for a fight if need be. She pressed herself against the cool mineral wall and leaned over, tilting her face to view what she had found.

There, sitting by the fire, was a small girl. She released the breath she had been holding and whispered, "Hello?"

The girl jerked and held her hands close to her chest, curling into her body and staying very still. "Who's there?"

Kagome waved a hand out of her hiding place before slowly following it, bow held in one hand and arms outstretched. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I'm just trying to get away from the rain is all." She squinted at the girl. "Hey, aren't you the little girl that travels with Sesshomaru?"

Rin nodded mutely, holding her knees to her chest.

Kagome paused. "Do you mind if I sit by your fire? I'm really wet."

Rin thought before nodding again, moving over to the other side of the fire so Kagome could sit. Kagome grabbed her bag and set it near the fire, spreading out a few items to dry as Rin watched her, the storm gaining in ferocity by the minute. The smoke from the fire was pushed back into the cave by especially hard gusts of wind, all sounds mute in comparison to the thunder and pouring rain. Rin gripped a log from a pile beside her, throwing it into the center of the flame to watch the sparks fly.

Kagome felt a presence behind her and turned to see an imposing silhouette standing in the entryway, holding something from a string in its hand and backlit by the lightning. She gasped, grabbing for her bow as the figure stepped forward.

"Put down your weapon, Kagome." The voice was familiar, but she gripped the weapon just as tightly – ready to let an arrow fly.

Lixue sighed as she stepped into view, drenched and holding a string of fish. "I do not want to fight you."

"I don't believe you," Kagome breathed.

"There are big days and there are small days, Kagome. Today is not a big day." Lixue fixed her with a stare. "Put your bow away."

Kagome released her tension on the bow, and Lixue turned her attention away from her to look at Rin. "I brought you fish, Rin."

"Thank you, Li-san!" Rin smiled, relaxing into a cross-legged position as Lixue sat beside her, threading the fish onto sticks before placing them to cook over the fire.

Lixue turned the fish from time to time as they browned, noticing the way Kagome watched them. Rin looked up at her with a question in her eyes and touched the tigress' knee.

"…Kagome." Lixue's speaking of her name snapped Kagome from her fishy reverie to look at the demon. "You may have my fish if you desire. I am not hungry."

Kagome looked at the fire, then to Lixue, then the fish, then Lixue again. "Are… are you sure?"

Lixue growled deep in her chest. "Yes, human."

"Thank you," came the low response, Kagome's bewilderment apparent.

Rin whispered thanks to the demon as well, knowing that her hearing was great enough to pick it up over the torrential storm. Lixue crossed her arms and grunted.

When the fish finished cooking, Lixue withdrew Rin's share and handed it to the girl, leaving Kagome to take hers on her own. Rin was digging happily into her meal before Lixue stood, stripping off pieces of her soaked armor to dry and taking her hair out of its high ponytail. She began brushing through it with her claws, wringing out droplets onto the rocks near the fire with tiny hisses of steam. When she had finished grooming her hair, she drew her sword with a metallic ring, only gracing Kagome's gasp with a glance before she began to clean and sharpen it, holding the double-edged jian carefully across her lap. With long and careful ministrations, Lixue pressed the blade and sharpening stone together, giving her dark-metal weapon more attention than the first had garnered from her, before holding it up to inspect it with a faint smile. She returned it to its sheath and picked up the chain whip, cleaning each of its nine sections and checking their rotation for snags or rust. She held the dart close to the fire, the flame's reflection a spark jumping from facet to facet as she checked for any signs of wear. Satisfied with her weapons' condition, she placed them next to her on the opposite side of where Rin sat watching. Lixue crossed her arms again and leaned against the wall from her seated position, the firelight reflecting from her cat's eyes as she watched Kagome.

Kagome had decided that if she wasn't going to do anything else, she should study, but the textbooks were still wet and the pages were flimsy at best. She ripped the inside of a workbook page and huffed exasperatedly before shutting it again. With the rain still pouring outside and no friends to talk to, she began looking around her at the cavern's low ceiling, the walls, Lixue's armor, her weapons, the jewel shards…

Rin scooted closer to Lixue, leaning into the tigress's side and looking up at her profile. Lixue angled her head to look at the girl before asking her what she was looking at her like that for.

"Li-san, can I sleep in your lap again?" she asked sweetly, pouting a little for effect. "Lord Sesshomaru didn't want me to wake you up last night when you were sleeping with his fluffy _and_ I couldn't find you the night before that."

Kagome ears would shoot straight up if they could. Lixue did _what?_ The tigress seemed to hear her thoughts, glaring at her for a moment before dropping her crossed arms for the girl to clamber into her lap.

Rin curled up in Lixue's lap, resting her head on Lixue's chest and playing with the demon's dark hair as she was closed up by her arms.

The threesome listened to the rain outside for a time until Lixue's voice broke the semi-comfortable silence. "The rain isn't going to let up until morning."

Kagome sighed. "I hoped it would get better soon so I could go home tonight… but you're probably right."

"You can sleep here tonight. I will keep watch."

Kagome hesitated, not wanting to insult the tiger's newfound hospitality but not entirely comfortable with the idea. "Umm…"

"I was going to watch for danger tonight anyway. One more human is not out of my way and it is pointless for you to stay up to watch me while I keep watch." Lixue closed her eyes. "Humans need to sleep every night, is that not correct?"

Kagome didn't know how to respond, the tiger's calm argument making sense but not ignoring the niggling sensation on the back of her mind that she shouldn't sleep in the same cave as the demon they were supposed to be hunting. Her silence was and wasn't an answer; Lixue seemed to pick up on this.

"Take my offer or leave it. That's all I'm saying on the matter. If you are so inclined you may leave, although-" she gestured with her head toward the sound of rain, "you might find it more inhospitable out there than in here."

"Will Sesshomaru be returning tonight?" Kagome's voice was apprehensive.

Lixue looked down at the girl in her lap, whose eyelids were beginning to droop and breathing slowly. "When he left, I was under the impression that he would be gone for several days. If for some reason he did show up tonight, my best advice to you is stay still and be quiet. I'm pretty sure he kills anyone but me that heckles him."

Kagome sat forward. "Why wouldn't he kill you?"

Lixue's answer was long coming. "We pretty much grew up together."

"You _did_?! How…" Kagome's startled yelp was hushed to an excited whisper at Lixue's narrowed eyes. "How is that even _possible_? I thought you were from China!"

"I'm going to need some help if you're going to be this inquisitive all night. Will you grab a magnolia petal from the bag near you?" Lixue gestured with her chin to one of Ah-Un's saddlebags, detached and leaning haphazardly against the wall. Kagome opened it and found it stuffed with slightly yellowing magnolia blossoms. Mystified, she plucked a petal from one of the flowers and handed it to the tigress.

Lixue lifted it to her mouth, biting off half of the petal and throwing the remainder into the fire. "Sesshomaru makes me eat these."

"What do they do?"

"I'm not entirely sure. They make me think about things I don't want to and make it easier for me talk about them, too, so it's kind of hard to explain. Everything gets a little shaky and sometimes I hear voices." Lixue cocked her head, her slitted pupils dilating. "He went to get them after I first showed up, when he said I'd changed."

"What did you used to be like?" Kagome found herself intrigued. This tiger was nothing like the one she had known but a few weeks prior, her gentle intelligence now at the forefront than her infinite ferocity.

"That depends on who you asked," she chuckled drily. "I imagine his father found me quite unmanageable."

_Inuyasha's father?_ Kagome's heart leapt into her throat. "Did... what was the Inu no Taisho like?"

Lixue's nose crinkled as she thought. "I'm sorry. I don't remember much. I was too busy trying to escape from court to remember anyone in it."

"Oh." Kagome relaxed her grip on her skirt before they tightened again. "Did you know Inuyasha as a child?"

"Inuyasha?" Lixue asked quizzically. "Why would I know him?"

"He's Sesshomaru's half-brother." Kagome's mouth stayed open when she noticed the marked surprise in the torayoukai's face. "You really didn't know?"

"I had no idea. He must have been born after Sesshomaru and I were separated."

"Wait, that's right. You still didn't answer me on how you even grew up together."

"Our fathers were allies, and then friends when allies weren't needed." Lixue readjusted her seat, Rin's sleepy protests ignored. "I was still young when father first took me to Japan. My mother wouldn't care for me while he was gone, so I went with. I imagine I made his negotiating quite hard by constantly running away into the forest no matter where we were – I hated all the rules, the restraints from being around nobility. He eventually just took me to the Western Lord's castle and left me there while he went on trips, spending the rest of the time there with me." She smiled with a touch of ire. "I was so bored that I started tormenting the lord's son or baiting the visiting nobility's children into fighting me."

"You bullied Sesshomaru?" Kagome couldn't fathom the fearsome taiyoukai being bullied by anyone.

"Not necessarily. Mostly I was teasing him into playing with me by putting his pride on the line." Her nostrils flared. "Things like 'if you don't make a fortress with me in the garden, I'll tell everyone you're afraid to get dirty' and things like that. Once I dared him to sleep in the same room as me for three weeks, and then kept doing it because I liked sleeping in his mokomoko."

"His what?"

"That fluffy thing he wears on his shoulder. _Super_ soft." Lixue's mouth curled up into a distinctly catlike smile. "Eventually we just slept together when I visited without me daring him. We were young, so it was harmless."

"How long did you know each other?" Kagome's questions were springing up like some forgotten geyser unearthed. "Why were you separated?"

"We knew each other for a little over 150 years. We first met when we were little more than toddlers. He's a few decades older than myself and he _never shut up about it. _Not until about a century later." Lixue's smile faded. "We were separated about 240 years ago or so. We were entering the stage of our lives where we were nearing sexual maturity, and I guess the court freaked out about a tiger and a dog being so close. We didn't even _do_ anything, but we had to be separated to save face for the other nobles."

"Is it so wrong for a tiger and a dog demon to be in love?"

"It is in high society – and we weren't even in love. He was my best friend. Papa only told me all of this a few years before he was killed." Lixue rested her chin on Rin's head, voice dropping to just above a whisper. "In human terms, it's like an emperor's son mating with a high-ranking prostitute's daughter."

Kagome let the slip between _marriage _and _mating _go, aghast at the comparison. "How is that even close to the same thing?"

"With taiyoukai, we live much longer and thus have to choose our mates more carefully. Traditionally, dogs mate with dogs and tigers mate with tigers – so on and so forth – producing purebred taiyoukais of the proper race. If two unlike demons mate, the demon usually takes after the father's breed except in the case of male and female twins. Those are one of each. Preserving the breed is much easier than it could be, but then you have 'pedigree' issues of whose son is the nephew of great commander so-and-so. It's a very picky topic with nobility and most 'purebred' demons. If you can move past _that_ part, then it's the mating habits of the demons themselves. For example, a vast majority of demons such as dogs mate for life and most tigers do not. The females take whichever males they please and then raise the children themselves, usually choosing to mate with the strongest males they have access to. This mating method is in part what makes tigers so eager to fight – we have to prove ourselves to get the best mates. My father was the exception to tigers, as was my mother; he was utterly devoted and she was utterly disinterested in raising a cub."

Kagome listened to the lecture about demon mating habits with intense interest. She wasn't usually in a position to hear a powerful demon talk at length about these things that she knew so little about, and in a smaller way, she wanted to know more about what to expect from Inuyasha and Shippo's demon urges (when the time came, of course.) She lifted her hand, very much playing the part of schoolgirl. "What happened to your mom?"

Lixue frowned. "She died."

"How?" Kagome urged.

"She died from… what is the Japanese word for it… 'Erotic asphyxiation.'"

Kagome's mouth formed a tiny 'o'.

"She was mating with two tiger males, one female, and a male elephant demon she called 'Fuzzy.'" Lixue's mouth was set in a straight line as she delivered the information. "Not much more to it than that."

Lixue popped her neck, twisting it from side to side while she tried to recall where they had left off before her mother had come up. "As I was saying, my father and mother are unlike most tigers, so aren't exactly indicative of the breed. For all the court knew, I would turn out like my mother, and having a lord who mates for life bonded to a mate with a wandering libido would be a disaster waiting to happen."

"Do you think you'll take multiple mates? …do you have one already?" Kagome's voice turned conspiratorially soft.

Lixue snorted, ruffling Rin's hair. "I don't have time or energy for one mate, let alone several. Can you imagine what it would be like to have four or five males constantly demanding for your attentions?" She shook her head vigorously to clear the image. "Tigers like my mother might be able to handle that, but I've never been the sort to have large groups of people about. Besides, it's not like anyone's ever asked me to be their mate."

Kagome braced her arms onto her calves and leaned forward with a mischievous smile. "Would you be mates with Sesshomaru if he asked you to?"

"_What_? No! I mean, I don't know. I don't think of him that way. I don't think he even remembered that I _existed_ until I came back and he was shackled to me with this thing." She gestured with a flick of her hand to the skintight collar around her neck.

"Why would you say that?"

"Well, his father died only a little bit after we were separated. His mother didn't seem to care what the court thought, so why didn't he come to see me?" The magnolia pricked her eyes, bringing up another memory. "He must have known what was going to happen when I left. He wouldn't let go of my hand and kept asking me to stay." Her eyes began to moisten. "Despite his apparent reluctance to let me go, he never contacted me, never came to see me, even when nobody would stop him. Not even when Papa was killed. And now, he barely acknowledges me."

The torayoukai's hurt swam to the surface of her face, taking Kagome completely by surprise. "Did the magnolias make you like this?" At the tiger's nod, she changed the subject. "Why are you being so nice to me and Rin?"

"Rin's very precious to Sesshomaru. He won't say it but he'd kill anyone who scuffed her knee. He always speaks more loudly with his actions than what he says. As for you, and humans in general, I'd guess it's partly the magnolias but mostly because of my shackling."

"Why would your shackling change your attitude toward humans? You were anything but friendly while you were bound to the dagger." Kagome crossed her arms in remembrance.

"For most of my life I didn't have an opinion of humans, just individuals. My hatred came when humans killed my father, the years of fighting them… then the years of running from a priest and his soul-stealing demonic mirror." She closed her eyes and held up her hand when Kagome began another question, silencing the human. "I'm not finished answering your original question yet." She swallowed. "I've spent so long running and fighting that it became all I knew. The shackling prevents me from running anymore. When you come up against something like that, you either change or you die. I'm not the sort to die so I had to change, and with Sesshomaru's insistence that I eat the magnolias, I'm kind of reverting to who I really am I guess."

She dropped her hand, signaling to Kagome that she could speak.

"You don't know why the priest is hunting you?"

"I suppose it's probably as revenge for killing his brother or mother or something, burning his village down and the like."

"He says you murdered his father."

Lixue snapped up, eyes open and glaring murderously at Kagome. Her heart began to pound mercilessly in her chest.

Lixue snarled. "You spoke to him?"

"W-we saw a wanted poster of you in town and wanted to know if it was really you!" Kagome supplied lamely, despite its truth. "He's been traveling with us to look for you." She realized what she had just incriminated herself to and clapped her shaking hands over her mouth.

Lixue gently placed Rin on the ground, eyes never leaving Kagome's face, before standing and crouching before Kagome with her face close enough to allow Kagome to feel her breath. _"You may have just signed away your life, human," _she breathed, Kagome painfully aware of the demon's fangs as she spoke. _"Tell me what he has told you." _

Kagome tried to speak twice but failed, swallowing hard before stammering, "He s-said that you killed his father after yours turned on him, t-th-that he was betrayed."

Lixue's tiger eyes narrowed, breathing deeply Kagome's scent to make sure that the girl spoke truthfully. She withdrew, Kagome's stomach turning itself over and shaking uncontrollably.

The demon didn't turn to look at Kagome as she spoke. "The priest was told lies, or he told them. My father had been summoned to mediate between peace talks and it was _he _who was betrayed. The lord had a priest exorcise him with sutras." She released a shuddering breath. "If you don't believe me, look at the history. He remained unusually loving and devoted for a male tiger. He was friends and allies with the Inu no Taisho, a known human sympathizer. He united large portions of China and Japan indirectly. This was his business, the entire reason I was left behind at the western castle while he spent entire months traveling to mediate, the _whole reason I lost him._" She whirled on her heel, grabbing her armor and weapons before marching angrily to the cavern's entrance. "I'm going on watch."

Kagome unrolled her sleeping bag, mulling over what had just happened and the immense amount of information she had gotten from such an unlikely source. Her head swam with it.

_What do I do now?_


	13. The Hyena in the Canopy

_Chapter Thirteen: The Hyena in the Canopy  
_

**A/N: Fiiiine I'll update. Readers kicking me in the butt telling me to get moving… lol. **

Kagome had been lulled to sleep by the gentle breathing of the child near the low flames and the steady pulse of rain outside of the crooked cavern's mouth. Lixue had not made a sound after her outburst, and Kagome had feared that she had left entirely; however, she peeked at the entrance and barely made out the form of the tigress propped against the inside of the mouth, staring into the dark.

She found herself being withdrawn from her dream about having ears like Inuyasha's to the sound of someone yelling. She opened one of her eyes to blearily register Rin sitting up near the fire, eyes wide and pressing herself against the wall to make herself smaller. She shook the sleep from her mind and concentrated on the words from outside.

"Let me see her! You won't keep my woman away from me!"

Was that… _Koga_? She scrambled to her feet while Lixue answered, voice low in warning.

"You will wait until she comes out to you. Nobody's getting into that cave."

"Oh _yeah?_ And who's gonna stop me? Not some mangy cat!"

Kagome tripped over her bag but managed to regain her footing before emerging into the early morning's light behind Lixue. Koga's face flashed into an immediate expression of relief, and he tried to sidestep the demoness before him to get to her. Lixue stepped in front of him once more, matching him eye to eye and gripping her sword with her hand. She spoke to Kagome while staring down the wolf demon.

"Kagome. This wolf insists for your company."

"Yeah, that's Koga. He's okay." Kagome put her hand on Lixue's shoulder, but it was quickly shrugged off. Lixue stepped back into the cave, not turning her back on the wolf until she was sure that he would not follow.

Kagome sighed. "Good morning, Koga."

Koga's face split itself into a massive grin as he pulled her into a hug. "It certainly is a good morning when my woman's around."

She returned the hug; she might not love him like he proclaimed for her, but it certainly was good to see a friendly face. "What was that all about, Koga? Sounded like the fur was going to start flying."

"I smelled you around, but with some stranger's scent. I came to investigate and she wouldn't let me into the cave to see you." He huffed, his breath warm on her head after the cool damp of the cave. "I got worried."

_She probably didn't want him around Rin,_ Kagome guessed. That was probably where Lixue was now. "Thank you for worrying about me, Koga." She smiled up at him before pushing herself away from his chest, his grip showing his reluctance to end their hug but eventually letting her go.

"What are you doing without muttface?" He seemed genuinely perplexed, and a little miffed. "He's not protecting you."

"I was on my way back to the village, but got caught in the storm. Lixue – the tiger – offered to let me stay in the cave with her and – with her." She almost mentioned Rin, but caught herself – if Koga noticed her verbal stumble, he didn't say anything about it. "All the yelling woke me up."

"Ah, well then, why don't I escort you the rest of the way?" He offered, extending his hand in the direction of the village. "I'm heading that way anyway."

Kagome smiled at him. "I'd be glad for the company. Just let me grab my stuff. Stay here." She emphasized the stay-here with her hands. "I mean it."

"Fine, yeah. Whatever. I'll stay here." He crossed his arms and huffed.

She smiled again and bounced into the cave. Lixue crouched near the fire, packing up Rin's bedroll into the saddlebag and the girl gripping the tiger's arm. The demoness didn't seem to mind the girl's grip so much as the hindrance it placed on her packing. She didn't say a word to Kagome as she gathered her things, feeling that no words were necessary. Kagome, however, didn't share the sentiment.

"So, um. I'm going now." She shouldered her bag.

Lixue grunted.

"Are we… what will happen the next time I see you?" Kagome toyed with the straps on her backpack.

"You may understand why I am as I am now but your companions will not. The next time we see each other, if the priest is with you, we will fight. Until one of us is dead." She did not look at Kagome's shocked expression. "Let us hope we do not meet again while he is alive."

Kagome nodded and turned to leave. In some small part of her she had hoped that they could have been… well, friends. She fell into stride by the wolf demon and tried to shake the image of the tigress' face from her mind, the bone-deep hurt from the night before contrasting with the blistering rage on the day of her binding. She smiled up at Koga's searching expression, her thoughts her own.

oOxXxOo

Lixue watched their retreating forms disappear into the surrounding trees, listening for their footsteps until they faded into the birdsong and breeze. She picked up the saddlebag and looked at Rin, who smiled toothily and pressed into her side. She picked a direction and began to walk, Rin cheerily keeping step behind her. The wolf demon had seen her location, as well as Kagome. She didn't want to stick around in that part of the forest any longer, should they send others her way. Thankfully, Rin seemed to be in a much less inquisitive mood this morning, preferring to sing about walking with Lixue and wondering when her Lord Sesshomaru would be returning.

Lixue found herself wondering too.

oOxXxOo

Miroku splashed his face with water, freezing when he felt eyes on him. He glanced around him at the quiet forest, the pleasant mumbling of the water in the brook the only discernible sound amongst the birds and early morning insects. He shrugged off the sensation as paranoia and continued washing his face, goosebumps forming on his skin from the chill of the water.

When he finished, he stood with the aid of his staff and breathed deeply, adjusting his robe and dusting it fastidiously. He felt that peculiar sensation again, reaching into his robe and holding his sutras in case an ambush was imminent, scanning the branches and brush around him.

A great crashing behind him made him whirl around, lowering himself into a battle-ready position only to see the portly figure of Monk Taizu trip over a root. He tried to catch the monk but was unable to do anything but save the mirror as it flew toward him, grasping the older man's arm before helping him back to his feet.

"Thank you for saving the mirror, my boy. Damn depth perception, I'll give you depth…" he started to mumble, kicking the offending tree whose root had proved so worthy a foe and hissing when his toe protested such abuse. Miroku looked behind him again, reassuring himself that they were alone before walking back with Taizu to the camp but not believing it.

They returned to the camp for their meager breakfast. Taizu's money had been enough to feed them for a few days, but his immense appetite soon became higher than he could support himself with. They would need to stop for supplies soon, sooner than any of them would have liked, with more to get and less money to get it with. _The good news,_ he assured himself, _is that winter is over. The wildlife will all soon return and we'll be able to forage as well._

He caught Sango's expression as they ate, and raised his eyebrows in curiosity. She kept watching the surrounding forest, a restless air about her. She found him watching and whispered to him. "Do you feel it too?"

"Yeah, like someone's watching us." He replied. If Sango was feeling it too, then it wasn't his imagination. There was someone – or something – nearby.

Taizu didn't seem to feel what the demon slayer and fellow monk did, happily chowing down with Shippo. Inuyasha was sulking on the edge of camp, too busy wallowing at Kagome's absence to really pay attention to anything else. That is, until the wind shifted and his nose told him they weren't alone.

The hanyou leapt to his feet, nose twitching, before glaring at a tree near Sango and growling at her to get away from it.

A clear laugh echoed through the forest, a young bronze-colored man swinging into view and perching on a branch, swinging his fur-clad legs as he grinned. "You found me!"

Sango gripped Hiraikotsu, ready to throw it if this man turned out to be trouble. "What do you want?"

"Oh, come on now. Don't be that way. I just wanted to know a little about you guys before introducing myself." He scrunched up his nose. "What's up?"

"Who are you?" Miroku demanded, moving closer to Sango defensively. Shippou scurried behind them, Taizu feeling about for his mirror and cursing.

"How rude of me. I am Jin Adisa." He stood on the branch briefly to give a deep bow.

"Jin is a Chinese surname – but where is Adisa from?" Miroku wracked his brain. "Doesn't sound like any name I've ever heard."

"That would be because I'm from Africa, with some Japanese and Chinese in there too." Adisa plopped himself back down onto the branch. "My family is a wandering bunch."

"Why are you here, Adisa?" Sango wasn't quite as interested as Miroku was in this man's history, preferring to know the important details.

"Well I _was_ trying to figure out how recent Lixue's scent was, but it's pretty old so…" he shrugged.

"You're looking for Lixue?" Miroku's grip relaxed on his staff. "You must have seen her bounty."

"Ah… yeah." Adisa grinned again. "When did you see her?"

Taizu finally found his mirror and lurched to his feet, puffing and aiming it toward the man. "I know your name, Jin Adisa. You're the hyena that reports to her."

"Ahhh, you caught me." Adisa chuckled. "But I haven't worked for her for a while, so put that soul-stealer away, would you?" He flapped a hand at the mirror. "I don't feel like becoming a husk today. That's more of a morning-after thing."

"Why do you want to find her?" Taizu demanded, the others nodding in agreement. "How are you involved with the tiger demon?"

"Ah, well, I'm not really _involved_ per se. I worked for her a few years ago, and she let me stick around in the castle after she conquered it, keeping a finger on the pulse of the neighboring provinces. When she left, she didn't really say why, and I want to know. That's about it." He shrugged, furred shoulders rippling with the motion.

"You're not her ally?" Inuyasha clarified.

"I'm not anything to her." Adisa said slowly.

After pressing him for more information and finding that he wasn't particularly loyal to anything but prevention of boredom, the group relaxed and he came down from the tree to mingle. Free from the cover of leaves, his unusual attire was more clearly visible. He wore a light armor from his waist down, leather crisscrossing his chest and a dark cloth covering his legs. He carried no visible weapons, his black hair in a braid and his copper skin only visible on his face, chest, and arms. The most remarkable part about his appearance was the thick coat of fur covering from the back of his neck across his shoulders and tapering down to the small of his back, a dark ridge of stiff fur down his spine and charcoal spots spattering his dust-colored pelt. He had a tail too, a short whip of the same dust color tipped with a plume of the darker fur that slowly un-fluffed as he relaxed.

He quickly gravitated toward Sango, asking her questions about her profession and how their quest was going, occasionally picking a bit of stray grass from her sleeve and making the demon slayer blush ever so slightly at the contact. Miroku sat on his other side, subconsciously determined to turn his attention away from Sango, who didn't seem to be doing so herself. Adisa soon seemed to pick up on this, though.

"Tell me, monk – not you, fatty – how long have you endeavored to claim this woman but not succeed in doing so?" Adisa's smile fattened into a grin at the sudden fluster from the humans to either side of him. "I, for one, would have snapped her up pretty quickly."

Miroku forced his face to remain passive. "I don't know what you're getting at."

"Come on, man. Don't play stupid." He leaned into Miroku, using his shoulder to nudge him. "You can't tell me you don't find power sexy." Adisa looked pointedly at Sango, who was decidedly _not_ looking in their direction, cheeks and ears far beyond pink. "It's rare to find a woman as powerful as that, demon or not. When are you gonna do something about it? Before someone else does?"

Miroku stood. "Excuse me." He stiffly turned and walked away. For a stranger to come swinging in from nowhere and instantly hone in on his feelings for Sango – it was either uncanny or obvious.

Adisa sighed, crossing his legs and looking up at the sky. "He'll be fine. He's gonna sort out his feelings one way or another. You're worth too much to be kept waiting, I'll warrant."

Sango glanced at him. "You meant to make him leave?"

"Nah. I meant to make him proclaim his feelings for you. The sexual tension between you two is absolutely terrible, and I've had enough of that for a lifetime already." He plucked a bit of grass from the ground and chewed on the end of it. "Didn't really mean for him to walk away but oh well."

"What do you mean about the having had enough tension for a lifetime or whatever you said?" Sango felt her cheeks return to their original hue as the conversation turned away from her and Miroku.

He chewed a moment more before speaking. "A few years ago, right before she ran off, I was staying in Lixue's castle in exchange for a few favors here and there. Nothing serious. But then she started getting really irritable and all these other demons kept showing up, all men. She came to me and said, 'Adisa. Make these horny assholes go away before I rip their guts through their eye sockets.'"

Sango giggled at his impression of Lixue, his frown a perfect parody. He grinned at her before continuing his story.

"So I start running interference, causing some minor issue or whatever in their homes so they'd have to leave, or making her unavailable to them for some reason or other. Soon enough I found out why they'd all started showing up – she was in heat." He read Sango's expression and smiled at her. "Yeah, I know. You thought regular tigers were scary? Try having a demon tiger pissed off because she's surrounded by grabby men." He held up his hands in a no-thanks gesture. "I was gone when Mr. Soul-grabby there and her had their little spat. I didn't care for a while but then, like I said, it got boring and she's usually a good focal point for stuff to happen."

Inuyasha snorted, having been lurking in the trees all along. "I guess that's what made the humans think she was gathering up generals to invade."

"Oh, no, she had an army. But it was mostly just for show to make the humans leave her in peace, sons of her late father's friends who hadn't seen a day of combat in their lives under the tutelage of one of the greatest demons of the time. Seemed like a good idea." He balled up a piece of grass and threw it at Inuyasha, who batted it away. "You know, I think she's due to go into heat again soon. That's why I think it'll be interesting to be around – she doesn't have a castle to hide in this time so there's sure to be some drama and more than a little blood." He stood. "Well, since you guys don't know where she is, I'll just be off then. Don't think I want to stick around too much longer, fatty looks like he's getting a little itchy under the collar to suck me into his mirror."

"Stop calling me fat, demon. Begone." Taizu waved his hand.

"Yeah, yeah." Adisa took Sango's hand and bowed over it graciously, flashing a charming smile to her. "Don't let him get away with stringing you along forever. If he does, you come find me. I'll treat you like a queen."

Sango could only nod mutely before he disappeared into the trees, the strange visit over and her heart fluttering oddly at his attentions. Miroku appeared just as suddenly as Adisa had gone, sitting next to her to discuss the proper route they should take the next day, brushing against her more often than necessary.

oOxXxOo

Lixue braced herself into the dirt. "Form's more important right now, Rin. Fluidity will come later. Again."

Rin breathed and started over, kneeling in front of the tigress in the proper stance before attempting the takedown once more. She was rewarded with an 'oof' as the tigress released her tension and fell to the ground. Lixue sat up, a faint tickling in her heart when the girl cheered triumphantly. "Very good, Rin. That's enough for one day. Let's find some food, shall we?"

Rin nodded and ran to the edge of the forest before pausing and turning back to Lixue. "Do you think we'll find some berries?"

She smiled. "Maybe. If you do find some, don't eat any until I say it's okay. Some berries are poisonous." The girl agreed before darting into the bushes again, the tiger following behind and thinking about shelter while they foraged.

The afternoon's hunt for food was a moderate success, turning up a few decently sized mushrooms and a rabbit. After dinner, the pair curled up in the roots of a tree and sat in the dark, the fire allowed to expire in the moderate warmth of the night. Rin fell soundly asleep in Lixue's lap while the tigress' thoughts wandered once more to Sesshomaru.

She didn't expect to feel this… emptiness in a part of her while he was gone. She hadn't felt it since her father died, a faint niggling at the back of her mind that constantly reminded her that he wasn't nearby. The thought disturbed her, his absence disturbed her. She searched for a word for it, her nose occasionally hinting at his scent when it wasn't there – she had smelled faintly of him after sleeping against his side, but the rain's drenching had erased him from her, something she didn't think she'd miss. That was the word. She missed him.

Naming her emotion didn't ease it, however, and she leaned her head against the rough bark of the tree with a sharp exhale. This sort of thing wasn't supposed to happen without eating the magnolias. She mentally cursed the Kagura woman for showing up just when he had returned and making him leave again. The longer he was gone, the harder it was to ignore the pinch of her collar. The harder it was to ignore the pinching in her heart.

She growled. _Damn it._


	14. Permanence of She

_Chapter Fourteen: Permanence of She_

Lixue wrinkled her nose in sleep, a low pungency poking her sensitive senses and prying her eyes open. She blinked her eyes in the dark, perking her ears to catch any hint of what had awoken her – when she felt the warmth in her lap and the unmistakable stench of human urine. Rin sobbed softly with shame in her lap, waking up as the demon did, rubbing her sleepy eyes and a deep frown on her small face. Lixue tried her best to close her nose to it, but the damage was done, and the sticky warmth was spreading in her clothes and dripping down her legs to the dirt.

Lixue lurched to her feet, the girl clinging to her chest and burying her face into the top of the tigress' armor before she could be pried loose, feet set upon the ground. Twin streaks of tears wrote clean trails through the thin layer of dirt on the girl's face and her chin trembled. Lixue sighed and kneeled down to Rin's eye level, putting her finger under the girl's chin to make her look at her face.

"Hey, stop crying." Lixue struggled for the right words, her gruffness only making the girl sniffle more violently. "This isn't anything to cry about. It happens to everyone at one point or another. So stop that, okay?" She smiled crookedly at Rin in what she hoped was a look of assurance.

Rin wiped her nose with the back of her hand, a thin line of mucus trailing from her nostril. "E-everyone?" she sniffled.

"Yeah." Lixue straightened. "When I was a cub I used to wet the bed sometimes too." She scanned the trees, trying to remember where the closest stream was. "Even Sesshomaru did it."

Rin's face broke into a watery smile. "Even Sesshomaru-sama?"

"Oh yeah," Lixue chuckled. "I only knew about one time, when he snuck a bit of his father's sake into the bedroom and drank it right before bed. His father was _pissed._" She chuckled at the memory of the red-faced Inu no Taisho, grabbing the girl's hand and leading her in the darkness. The whisper of wind cooled the liquid on her lap, its warmth quickly leading into an uncomfortable coldness.

The deep dark of the night was only broken by a thin sliver of moon; in the following night it would be completely gone. She could see in the darkness fairly easily, but from the girl's constant stumbling, she guessed that it was much harder for humans or even demons without night vision. Tiring of the tugging of the girl as she kept her balance, Lixue lifted the girl with one arm and perched her on the demon's hip. Rin squeaked as Lixue leapt forward, clinging to the warmth of the tigress in the darkness. It was not long, however, before the leaping ended in a mighty splash and she was dumped into the chill of the water with a shriek.

"You are a very noisy human." Lixue commented as she stripped, chucking her clothes and armor onto the shore and wiggling with pleasure at the freedom of nudity. The water was waist high for her, and the poor girl was nearly up to her neck in the water, splashing and spluttering, teeth chattering, before Lixue fished her out and set her back down in shallower water. "You can get out once you're rinsed off."

Lixue submerged beneath the surface of the water, the frigid liquid setting her teeth on edge. When she decided to re-emerge, she smelled the stench of… _monkeys. _Her pupils widened and her skin began to stripe in displeasure. They screeched in laughter, jumping up and down on their branches as they leapt to and fro across the stream.

"Come on, show us a little more, human," they chittered. "We just want to be friends!"

Rin's eyes were wide but she couldn't find their figures in the dark, clutching her drenched kimono more tightly to her body. She jumped at the sudden splash of water near her, but heard Lixue's voice ring through their laughter.

"Get lost, before I skin you alive." She snarled, standing in all her naked glory before the terrified girl, shielding her from their view.

"_That's_ what we want!" They screeched and tittered. "Care to dance for us instead, human? We've got good money!"

That was the final insult. She shifted with a blaze of blue fire, illuminating the water and the trees with an ethereal glare as the slate tiger emerged. She lunged forward with a bloodthirsty roar, eyes wide with hatred and slashing a clean set of lines through the trees as the monkey demons beat a hasty retreat. One of her claws hooked into the knee of an unlucky demon and he was wrenched from the branches with a scream of pain. He struggled free from her hooked claw, ripping it through his flesh in his eagerness to escape. She pinned his body down with her other paw, sheer weight threatening to crack his ribcage. He pleaded nonsensically, clawing at the dirt as she brought her mouth to his neck.

"No!" Lixue paused, thin streams of fiery saliva dripping from her fangs to the ground on either side of the terrified brown demon. In the firelight, she saw the staid face of Rin. "No!" She cried again. Lixue closed her mouth and turned her massive head to look at the girl more fully.

"Don't do it, Li-san," Rin's voice dropped. "Let him go." Her small hands fisted at her side.

Lixue turned her head back to the monkey and rumbled while she considered. He had frozen, breathing shallow and labored under her paw, splayed helplessly face down in the dirt. She hadn't eaten anything decent in days, and the small human was asking her to let her legitimate prey go. And she _hated _monkeys.

She cocked her head, turning it again toward the girl. "Why?"

"Please let him go, Li-san. I couldn't bear it if you killed him." Rin waded through the water to the other side as she spoke, placing her open hand on the tiger's ankle. "Let him go."

The tiger thought, and after a maddeningly long few seconds, she lifted her foot from the back of the monkey. He warily got to his feet, and bowed to the girl in thanks. He reached one hairy hand toward the girl, before the irritated snarl from Lixue sent him skittering off into the forest.

Rin and Lixue stared into the forest for a time before Lixue snorted and turned away. The tiger waded into the deepest water she could find – only chest high on the creature – her paltry flames sputtering into darkness as they submerged into the water. She wished once more for her full power, her full size and fire. Her aura was so weakened that those idiot monkeys had even mistaken her for a human instead of the great demoness she was.

Rin remained on the shore, the errant breeze taking its time to dry her. She watched the tigress wade into the water, tail floating on the surface, small spurts of steam shooting from the surface whenever her flames would come in contact with the water. The tiger shook her head in irritation, snorting bubbles into the surface of the water before slapping the water with an open paw and snarling. The beads coiled around her neck glowed deep red with the heat from the tiger's fire wherever they touched before cooling back to their bone hue in the dark blue of the night.

Lixue's anger soon spent itself, leaving her standing in thought as the water coursed around the minor inconvenience that she was. She arched her back and waded slowly to the shore, shaking her coat free of water and flaring to dry her fur. She . Rin sat down next to the tiger's neck, petting the cat's silken fur and passing her hands through the demonic fire, warm to the touch but rendered harmless by Lixue's will. She giggled and pressed her hands down into the mass of fur around the tiger's neck, hands disappearing up to her elbows in thick undercoat and black stripes. Lixue groaned and flopped to her side, lifting up a paw to bat at the girl's outstretched hands, tail twitching in wide arcs.

Rin latched onto the paw before her, laughing as she was lifted from the ground and losing her grip, falling onto Lixue's furred chest and clinging there. She crawled up to the tiger's neck, settling down between her foreleg and chin as Lixue rolled upright again.

The girl sank contentedly into the clouds of fur about her, shielded from the wind and cold in the presence of the mighty heartbeat. The tigress settled down around her, the fire dying down to a thin gossamer screen on her paws.

"Li-san?" Her thin voice cricketsong. "Do you believe in soul mates?"

"Hmm." The tiger's voice rumbled all around Rin. "I suppose that I do. I guess that means I'm bad at being a tiger. Do you believe in soul mates, Rin?"

"Yeah. I want to fall in love one day." Rin played with the fur in her hands, twirling it around her fingers and brushing it lightly.

"I'm sure you will. Sooner than you know, you'll be having to beat off suitors with a stick." The tiger thought. "Maybe something bigger. You'll attract a lot of attention, being associated with Sesshomaru."

"Why?"

"He's a very powerful demon, and son of another powerful demon. He controls a large portion of Japan. A lot of families would want to marry into such power – you will find yourself having quite a few men after your hand, not all of them human."

"That doesn't sound very romantic."

Lixue chuckled. "It isn't."

"Did you have a lot of suitors?" Rin craned her neck to try and look at the tiger's face, but couldn't.

"Yes. A lot of the problems you'll be facing were exactly what I was dealing with. My father was well-known and well-liked, and my mother's lineage is somehow connected with Japanese royalty. Add in my conquests on the battlefield… it got so bad at one point that I had to kill one to make the others mind their manners."

"Did you fall in love with any of them?" Rin asked innocently.

"No. I couldn't trust them, or they were weak. I would have to protect them from danger, or would lose them in battle. Even if I could trust them, or if they could rival myself in combat, most of them were callous jerks or sadistic morons." Lixue sighed. "If I were to ever take a mate, he'd have to be strong, intelligent, and… well, not _kind_ per se, but protective. Someone I could trust to watch my back."

"Sesshomaru-sama's strong!" Rin grinned. "And he's really smart too."

_What, is she trying to set me up with him?_

"Yeah, someone like Sesshomaru, but not him."

"Why not?"

"I don't _know_, just… someone that isn't him." Lixue chuffed. "Go to sleep."

Rin protested, but soon gave in to Lixue's order and fell silent. They slept, Rin cradled happily in the crook of the tiger's elbow.

When at last they were awoken by the morning light, Lixue gathered up the discarded armor and the pack from their campsite abandoned the night before. She felt her skin prickle with the knowledge that she was being watched; even more of a reason to pick up and keep moving. No need to be mobbed by monkey demons, despite its fun…

oOxXxOo

Taizu pressed his feet firmly into the dirt, the granules rubbing against his skin as he concentrated. The group was waiting patiently a short distance away, sometimes jostling and shushing as the monk held his mirror parallel to the ground and frowned in concentration.

"She's not far. She hasn't been moving more than a few miles for the last few days, so her spirit trail is much stronger." His voice was triumphant, wiping away the few beads of sweat that had pooled on the back of his neck and scratching at the bandages around his face. His compatriots' faces split into smiles or furrowed with thought with either the happiness that she was found or tension about the coming battle with their former companion.

"Which way is she already?" Inuyasha stamped his feet. "I wanna get this overwith today."

"Ah, I'm afraid I don't know a specific direction. Just a general… _this area_ of land." He spread his arms in a 90 degree angle away from him. "It'll get narrower the closer we get."

Miroku smiled and patted Inuyasha's shoulder, who frowned at him. "Besides Inuyasha, once we get close enough you should be able to pick up her scent, right?"

Inuyasha glared at him. "Um, _no._ Did you forget what tonight is?" He tapped his nose. "I can't smell a damn thing."

Sango sighed and adjusted her grip on her boomerang. "Well at least now we know where to start _looking._ That's more than we woke up with." Shippou and Kirara voiced their agreement with the slayer.

"Inuyasha's just grumpy because Kagome's not here," Shippou piped, before the swift justice of Inuyasha's fist found his head, with an indignant denial from the hanyou himself – the kit began to wail. "Hey! Don't get mad at me because it's the truth!"

Taizu groaned before just setting off, Sango and Miroku flanking him. When they realized that he had left, the others began falling in behind him; a slow journey toward the tiger and justice.

oOxXxOo

The darkly-dressed man pressed the damp soil of the water's bank with his fingertips, bringing it to his lips before resting on his haunches and surveying the tracks about him. "Looks like the merchant's tip was right. There's a girl with the tiger, and they were here recently." He stood and directed his voice over his shoulder. "Go get the others, and send someone to get the monk."

"Yes sir!" His companion barked in response before leaping to the nearest branch and disappearing into the leaves.

The man contemplated the confused tracks on the stream's sides, trying to place the size and activity of the creature and its relationship with the girl. The merchant had said that the girl was human, but with a demoness who had been in need of armor. He had _also_ impressed upon the bounty hunters that the girl must have been kidnapped, as he found no love in the demon's eyes for the human girl.

He studied the surrounding terrain, mentally noting where to place traps and diversions for the fight that would be soon coming to the hunters. The tiger didn't know it, but the noose was being slowly drawn about her neck. By the time she would realize that she was becoming ensnared, it would be far too late to escape.

He smiled.

"That reward money is ours."


	15. A Blood Debt Paid in Palest Ink, part I

_Chapter Fifteen: A Blood Debt Paid in Palest Ink, part one_

Lixue cursed under her breath as her foot slid from its bend in the branch, placing it much more firmly before lifting her nose in the air again. The wind heaved against her precarious perch in the whip-like wood of the top reaches of the tree. She gripped more tightly, her body in a wide stance and her eyes closed as she caught the wind like some meaty kite. She inhaled deeply, trying to sort through the myriad of scents that the air told her about.

_This is one of those rare times I wish I were a dog. Even a damned dhole. Some sort of canine. Maybe then I could make some sense of this mess._

She waited for the next large push from the breeze, breathing it in once more. She couldn't be sure, but she thought she smelled the faintest hint of humans and… there. An even weaker scent of indigo. The wind began to fail, and her brow furrowed. Indigo was native to China and southern Japan. She wasn't anywhere near where it should be growing; this very fact alone gripped her nerves and triggered her hackles to rise.

Her father had ensured that she had spent a year on learning the scents of all known purification ingredients, specimens wrapped in care by their human servants and placed in neat rows for her to study, drilling her with blindfolds and trivia until she could list them in her sleep. The sudden presence of indigo in the air meant that there was someone in the area capable of purification, carrying a large amount of powder. She gripped her teeth together and descended from the tree, her hopes to alleviate her pinching paranoia destroyed.

Rin smiled at her from where she had been waiting for her to return. The sun was nearing its height, the pair standing in their own shadows as Lixue looked again in the direction of the indigo and deciding which way to go. Her thoughts were interrupted by a low squelching growl, and she turned in surprise to the girl, who smiled sheepishly.

"You should say something if you're hungry." Lixue stated crossly. "We need to get moving."

"Rin is hungry." The girl said a little unnecessarily.

"I didn't mean _now._ We'll find you something while we go." Lixue chose a direction at an angle away from the indigo, Rin half-jogging to keep up with the tiger's strides.

Lixue found herself at the edge of the forest a few hours later, the early afternoon heat dampened by the shade, unable to step foot into the clearing. She growled deep in her chest, fighting the collar's voltaic spasms for a few minutes before retreating back into the edge of the trees. She lifted her nose and sniffed again. The indigo was much closer than before, nearly directly in the direction they had come from and several fainter sources to their right and across the clearing. Rin watched her with wide eyes, uncharacteristically quiet and staying very close to the tiger's side.

Lixue whined softly, a subconscious reaction to the stress that was beginning to press her from every direction. She veered to the left, ears alert for any sound of pursuit. The forest was dressed in green and gold, the birdsong and faint laughing of children from the nearby village giving the wood a happiness; the bursts of flowers high contrast to the morbid darkness she knew was tightening around her. Rin's stomach pinched in hunger, but she clung tightly to the hand of the demoness. Lixue's skin was breaking out in a cold sweat, senses piqued to the point where even the dull snap of a twig was a gunshot next to her ear. The unnatural feeling of being hunted disturbed the tigress, the confinement of the forest threatening to goad her into a panic. Protecting the girl slowed her down, prevented her from simply setting the forest ablaze and her pursuers along with it in the interest of keeping her alive. Her instincts screamed at her to turn and fight, to visit her immense and terrible wrath on those who dared to challenge her. She listened to the whisper that told her to take the girl and run, predator swallowing her pride to turn her back and tend to the needs of the girl.

She came to a stop so suddenly that Rin overshot the tiger and was only brought to a stop by the grip she held on the demon's hand. She looked up into the woman's face, the tiger's eyes trained onto something in the forest before them. Lixue looked down at Rin, who was searching her face for some hint of what would happen. She knelt down to Rin's eye level, voice in a serious whisper.

"Rin, I need you to hide. There are bad men after me and I don't want them to get you." Rin nodded mutely before concealing herself in the low-slung mesh of bushes nearby, clutching her knees to her chest. Lixue covered the girl's tracks near the bush, giving the girl's hiding place a last look before crouching and disappearing from Rin's view.

The tigress glided along the ground, sword half-drawn from its sheath as she approached the dark cloth of the human crouched a short distance away. She heard the man breathing, even and muffled, and her heartbeat quickened with the potential of a stealthy kill. She gauged her distance and propelled herself forward, her jian whistling sweetly as it sliced through the air and then through the form before her. She did not meet with the resistance of bone as she had expected but a wooden cage dressed in cloth, the pig she had freed squealing as it dashed to safety. Her eyes widened as she realized the trap for what it was.

"Rin," she breathed, and turned to run for the girl just as she heard Rin scream for her, voice silenced just as quickly as she had begun – had it not been for the tiger's sensitive hearing, she would have missed it.

Lixue snarled and leapt forth before an explosion of bright powder erupted from the surface of the dirt with a boom, the explosives discharging their payload of purification powder. She swerved and slid to the ground as she lost her footing, coughing and blinded by the flash and burn but avoiding the bulk of the powder. She felt something tighten around her ankle and she lashed out with her sword, cutting her ankle free and regaining her feet. The clouds of indigo and salts clotted in her throat and coated her lungs, but she sheathed her sword and stumbled forward as fast as she could. She sneezed and coughed, instinctually avoiding the trees and knowing that if she changed forms now her demon fire would ignite the purification powder into even higher potency.

She felt something warm dripping from her left ear, smelling blood and realizing that she couldn't hear anything beyond the rush of blood on her entire left flank. She turned her head in time to catch the soft footfalls of practiced lightness approaching at a sprint, spinning on her heel and unwrapping her chain whip to flash the dart toward her foe. She was rewarded with the catch of ripping flesh and a stifled sound of pain as she kept the whip's momentum at a breakneck speed, the jointed metal moving far too quickly for her human attackers to follow and keeping them at bay as she shook her vision back into at least a blurry image.

She coughed more violently, the powder finally forced free from her throat by an upheaval of bile and blood as she vomited. Her focus wavered, the whip's vicious barrier faltering. Her instincts saved her, her sudden leap and roll causing the expert blade to graze her back – its point cleaving open a neat line from below her ribcage to her hip with an aftershock of unnatural pain that spread through her veins. Lixue gasped and froze for only a few precious seconds, landing heavily on one hand and clutching her back with the other. She inhaled sharply before remembering Rin. She fought to her feet.

oOxXxOo

Taizu caught the pouch that the darkly dressed man had tossed to him. He opened it, a fine powder gleaming dully at him.

"Our own brand of purification powder. It works best when inserted directly into the bloodstream, so coat your weapons with it. It sticks really well to snake venom." The man drew out a small vial and a brush. "The powder's harmless to humans, so don't worry about inhaling any."

"You said your friends are catching the demon now?" Taizu clarified, handing the pouch to Sango, who began to coat the edge of her Hiraikotsu with venom.

The man nodded. "You will have your demon delivered alive. We're the best of the best, a full dozen of the finest bounty hunters." He then opened his palm. "And we expect payment for services rendered _before_ I take you to it."

Taizu nodded and reached a hand into his sash, pulling out a solid nugget of gold and passing it into the hand of the man. "If she gets away from you, I expect this back or you'll find yourself looking long and hard into my mirror."

Inuyasha's eyes widened to ridiculous proportions. "You had money _this whole time_?!" He abandoned all premise of civility as he leapt from his safety perch and grabbed the front of the monk's robe. "You said you were out! We've been paying out the nose to feed you and you had that kind of cash just **lying around**!?"

Taizu lifted his hands in mock surrender, gripping the mirror tightly in one hand. "I didn't have it just _lying around._ Be calm, Inuyasha. I had to keep it for the promised reward if someone brought Lixue to me."

"You got any _more_ cash you're not telling us about?" Inuyasha snarled.

"I promise to you that I am hiding nothing else on my person." The monk laid his hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. "Now please release me."

Inuyasha realized that everyone was staring at them and he released Taizu roughly. "Hmph. Let's just get this overwith."

Miroku cleared his throat. "Actually, Inuyasha, it might be best if you didn't come."

Inuyasha managed to glare and look surprised at the same time. "Why d'ya say that?"

"Should the fight continue into nightfall, you won't be able to use the Tetsusaiga." Miroku lifted his eyebrows and jerked his head toward the man, who was listening intently. _You don't want everyone to know that you turn human on new moons. _

Inuyasha just gave a disgruntled noise before turning away from them. "We'll see."

Miroku looked at Sango, who shrugged. The only one who could ever _make_ Inuyasha do anything was Kagome, and she was conveniently absent. They would simply have to hope Inuyasha had the foresight to stay out of view when the sun began to set.

Taizu approached Sango and spoke to her in low tones, urging her to go with Miroku and Inuyasha and follow the man to Lixue until he could catch up on Kirara. He needed to meditate and ensure that his holy powers were at their peak if they were to have a chance of destroying her once and for all. "I would prefer it if she were to be kept alive until I am there to claim her remaining soul, and I don't trust them to keep her alive for much longer if they're using indigo. I won't be long."

Taizu watched the others leave with mixed emotions. He wanted to leave that very moment, years of pursuit culminating into this very day, but he knew that if he was too hasty she would escape once more. Kirara sat restlessly nearby in her full size, listening to the disappearing footsteps of her master and trembling with anticipation.

He sat cross-legged and began to meditate, heart pounding in his chest as he tried to concentrate. The day was at hand.

oOxXxOo

Fear. Lixue had forgotten the stink of it, the panic and the bitter roots constricting her mind. She wrapped her whip around a tree, using her forward momentum to swing around the bark and come around the back of her pursuer. His foot kicked up, the spiked bottoms of his feet meeting with her sword and parrying it with a ring of metal. The whip had followed her after unwrapping, and she swung it low, leaping over it as it passed over the ground and wrapping the human's other foot with it. She pulled it back as soon as it wrapped, and the unbalanced man solidly fell to his back before she impaled him with the jian. He grasped for the sword as she twisted, agony written deeply into his face before he died with that same unnatural silence.

A whistle, a dive, and _thunk_ as shuriken peppered the tree where she had formerly stood. She violently shook her head and rubbed her eyes, senses twisting and warping the world around her and the taste of acid in her mouth. How many of these humans were there? She knew at least eight more pursued her, plus however many had taken Rin.

She had no more time to recover, another human dropping onto her from the tree above – he expected her to dodge once more, but she leapt toward him, digging her claws into his chest and slicing his throat. His blood poured onto her before she threw him toward his allies - it burned her skin and she cursed, wiping off as much of it as she could as she ran after Rin's scent. He must have swallowed purification salt, a massive dosage to make his blood corrosive – fatal for most humans. She did not dwell on the thought, concentrating on what little she could sense.

Rin struggled against the man carrying her under his arm, voice muffled with a gag made of thick cloth. She twisted and kicked her feet and swung her head until he slapped her hard enough to make her be still. He and two more men finally came to a stop, where he dumped her onto the dirt. She lay still, breathing dust through her nose and struggling to sit up, hands bound tightly behind her back and head still spinning. She looked at her captors where they talked amongst themselves, watching them as she tried to get her hands in front of her.

"She'll come in from the direction we just took. When she comes for the girl, you'll come in from her left – if the gunpowder goes off at the right time, she'll have sustained the most damage to that side and will have weakened senses. Make sure to stay out of her line of sight." He pointed in several directions. "You two will get into position after the signal and get your rifles ready – make sure to use the hollow rounds with monkshood extract inside. We want to bring this demon to a complete stop. And _make sure_ you have the shot before firing. You only have the element of surprise once." The others nodded and vanished, the man turning again to Rin just as she managed to get her hands in front of her. "Ah, little girl. It seems you have fight in you after all."

He grasped Rin firmly on her upper arm, reaching forward – when she ducked under his arm and put her knee directly behind his, dropping down to pull him backward. He cursed and pitched backward – she felt a lift of victory – but he caught himself, lifting Rin entirely off of the ground and striking her fully with the back of his hand. He scowled, gripping the girl and bringing her face close to his. She screwed up her face and tried to turn away from his putrid breath, kicking her feet and catching him in his gut. He sneered and was about to say something when he cut himself short, tossing her back onto the ground and stepping on her hair to keep her still.

Rin's fingers grasped at his feet, hands still bound tightly together and tried to lift herself free with her feet to no avail. She screamed as loud as she could through the gag, and found her cries answered in the form of an angry demoness streaking from the opposite direction than they had come. She tackled the human, her entrance and all-out attack giving her precious moments of confusion. She straddled his chest and began to pulverize his face, several quick and short blows with her claws before she leapt away, grabbed Rin, and fled to the sound of gunpowder and twin whistles of metal hurtling through the air. One clipped the ground near her foot in a puff of dirt – the other soundly struck her in her right arm, shattering the bone and splintering on contact to deliver a concentrated dosage of poisonous monkshood. Rin felt Lixue shudder with the pain, steps faltering for only a moment.

Lixue ran, breathing laboriously through her mouth coated with blood and dirt, nostrils completely useless – so obstructed they were with powder and bloody mucus. Every breath was a struggle, the purification powder paralyzing her more with every step as her elevated heart rate made it sprint through her body. Her hearing was shot from the left and difficult at best on her right. Her blurred vision was obscured with dizziness and her eyes crusted with thick yellow discharge, her right arm's bones cracking and screaming with pain yet simultaneously numbed by the poisonous monkshood.

Yet the tiger clutched the girl to her blood-soaked chest and ran.

She knew they followed closely behind her, and she began to slow, a faster pace impossible. The sun was beginning its descent into the sky, entering the magic hour as she stopped. She released the girl, slicing through her bindings with a single claw and not resisting when Rin embraced her, trembling. She closed her eyes, leaning her head into Rin's as a strange calmness pervaded her. _Is this the hour of my death?_

She let the girl hold her for a while longer, their remaining window of time swiftly closing on them with the footsteps of her enemies. She pulled Rin away from her chest, and looked at the girl. Rin trembled, tears running freely down her face and wiping snot away with the back of her wrists.

"Rin. I need you to listen very closely to what I'm going to say to you." Rin nodded, sniffling loudly. "I need to you to go and hide in that cave." Lixue pointed toward the cavern behind her, the very cavern they had been in only two nights before. "No matter what happens to me, _stay out of sight. _Don't make a noise. Don't even move until you're sure they're gone. Sesshomaru will find you. Do you understand?"

Rin shook her head. "No! I won't leave you!" She propelled herself into the demon's chest and clung, as if the embrace alone would make everything okay.

Lixue pried the girl, sobbing, from her bloody armor. "Rin, do this for me. I need you to be safe for Sesshomaru." She ran her good hand down the girl's face, who held it tightly and rubbed her face deeper into the demon's palm. "No matter what happens, Rin. No matter what." Lixue's voice cracked, and she swallowed.

She guided Rin to the entrance of the cave and pushed her gently inside. Rin gripped her hand so as to never let go, shaking and sick, finally letting go and crouching just beyond the bend in the darkness.

Lixue looked at her long, managing a shaky smile for the girl's final glimpse before the tiny figure disappeared from view. She stepped away from the cave's face, planting herself before the entrance and transforming slowly, agonizingly, into her tiger form. Her flames were low, a deep and dull glow lazily licking along her feet. Her proud slate coat was matted with dirt and gore, the tigress panting and keeping her left foreleg lifted from the ground, but alive. Her larger body would take more time to succumb to the poison, time she would need to protect Rin. Her head drooped as she waited for her foes to appear.

She did not have to wait long.

The humans emerged from the wood, melting into view and watching her as the last dying rays of the sun struggled to remain in sight. Her claws peeked from between the furred folds of her paws, fangs exposed while she panted. Head low.

But heart beating.

She should have been surprised to hear the low jingle of his staff, or see the hulking shadow of Hiraikotsu. They watched her as the others did, wondering if the tiger would die before them. She only saw the pair, right ear swiveling to see if she could catch the sound of the massive dog sword swinging through the air, but finding only more of the oppressive silence. She growled, lifting her lips in a show of defiance and fire burning brighter, hotter. _Come and get me._

The stillness erupted, the tigress defending the cave mouth from the swarm of weapons, every moment and breath stilted and sharp, unable to think in the feral instinct of fighting. Protecting.

Snap teeth together, only clip the leg. Anger exploding from her core, a roar that sends birds to the sky in a panic for miles. Another attempts to flank her, crushed beneath her paw and flung into a trunk, the eerie snap of bone and the sudden still. The circular song of the Hiraikotsu as it cleaves her shoulder into a flap of sodden muscle hanging loosely from her elbow. The scream of pain as the purification and venom pollutes her once more. Ropes soaring through the failing light, wrapping themselves and hooking into her skin. She bucks, ripping them free to the fountain of blood they exposed. Dark dirt stained darker.

The monk's staff slicing through her injured leg, connecting with the shattered bone and separating it entirely from the flesh to protrude grossly. She snarls and swipes at him, swatting him and gouging two long canals of blood across his arms and chest. He rolls to his feet, clutching his chest and retreating, splattering the ground as he goes. Sango screams in fury, throws the boomerang once more. Lixue cannot hold her weight any longer, collapsing to the ground with a shuddering moan, the edge of her weapon grazing the back of the tiger's neck. She flattens her ears and attempts to get up, the fire beginning to sputter as she catches another human on his leg, dragging him toward her before releasing him and crushing his chest in her jaws. He gurgled as his life left his body, and she ripped him apart at the stomach, swinging his body to coat his friends with his blood.

She hissed as she felt more ropes tighten around her, hooking deeply into her flesh. She attempted to stand but more whipped around her legs, her neck, her body, dragging the weak cat down to the ground and pinning her there. She roared, her challenge suddenly ignored as they watched her. Her tail whipped and her mind began to function again, forced into action by her immobile body. She trembled with fatigue and agony, unable to keep her head erect. Her body began to shut down, ignoring her commands under the abuse it had withstood. She panted, no longer recognizable as any other color but the color of war.

_Sing to me, my zhanshi. Show papa your pretty fangs._

She closed her eyes and keened low in her throat. Low in her heart.

She felt his approach more than heard it, lifting her tired eyes into the sky to meet him.

_Sing with me, Lixue. It's a song I only want to sing with you. _

He stepped down carefully from his mount, approached her, and stood before the helpless tiger. He held her entire future in his hands, and he knew as he lifted his mirror that the hatred in her eyes was all for him.


	16. A Blood Debt Paid in Palest Ink, part II

_Chapter Sixteen: A Blood Debt Paid in Palest Ink, Part Two_

Taizu's heart hammered in his chest, a thunderous pace rivaled only by the anger that shook his body. After nearly two decades of being two steps behind, Xing Lixue, daughter of Xing Chao, demon tigress of the volcanic reaches of Southeast China, lay bloodied and restrained in the dirt before him. The demon's eyes gleamed an eerie crimson in the dark of the moonless night, pale flickering of her weak flames casting shaky shadows onto the blood-soaked dirt.

"Well, demon," Taizu smiled confidently at her, kneeling near the tiger's nose. She smelled of blood and indigo, her whiskers accentuating her soundless snarl as he laid a hand on the top of her snout. "I don't know what I'll do after I give you the death you deserve. You gave my life direction. But frankly, all I know is that the world will be a better place without you in it."

Lixue's flames blazed a brighter hue of blue as she growled. "For all the power you give yourself credit for possessing, even with the desire for revenge, even with the aid of a demon mirror, even with parts of my soul calling to one another, you will live your life knowing that you were not enough. You could not destroy me on your own. _You are nothing and the world will forget you before you've turned to dust._"

He recoiled, her words incising into his mortal heart and all of its mortal fears. "This mirror is of the god Yao-Shih."

She gave a short, single laugh. "Is that what it told you? Since when do gods devour souls and do the bidding of mortals?" Her claws began to score furrows into the wet earth as he turned and walked away from her. "I should not be subjected to death by such a gullible fool, by such a coward."

He turned back once more, the tiger's face exposing more of the creature's dormant fury as he held the mirror erect once more – its surface swam with the reflection of the tiger and innumerable petals of a twisted golden sheen. "Look deep into your fate, tiger; face your death with courage."

The mirror's surface drew her eyes, her soul calling for the remainder; all else ceased to exist in the silvered darkness outside of the mirror. She roared her great defiance, pain forgotten as she strained and lifted herself free of the ropes. She lifted her body to stand on her hind legs, a magnificent and terrifying afterimage as her soul was extracted. She fought the mirror, sinking to the ground as she lost control of her body, every bellow echoed by the ghostly tiger between herself and the mirror.

The tigress shuddered, the final challenge dying in her throat as she exhaled. Her body relaxed and her heart slowed until it finally ceased to beat.

Taizu's mirror drank in the demon tiger's soul, surface shining for a few moments more before its brilliance faded. He lowered it, irresolute and shaking with fatigue. He had always envisioned this moment as his crowning achievement, a time for celebration and what he had imagined to be relief. He felt relieved, to be sure, but with a strange emptiness as he looked at the tiger's limp body. He approached the soulless carcass, closing the furious and glassy eyes with a measure of reverence. She had been his greatest nemesis, and he had an odd feeling that in destroying her, he had destroyed a small part of himself.

He shook his head violently, clearing the ridiculous thoughts from his mind. She had leveled entire swathes of land, murdered and devoured countless innocent lives, laid siege to his home and driven him out. She had ripped his father's heart from his chest and eaten it before his father had even died. Of all the creatures that deserved pity, she was not among them.

His friends were as quiet as he, Miroku's robes torn into bandages and tied tightly around his naked torso as he leaned against the silent Kirara. Sango had retrieved her Hiraikotsu and stood near the tiger's haunches, staring vacantly at the stripes of blood and dark fur on the massive beast. Taizu was glad that Shippou and Kagome were not here; they were young and would have a hard time dealing with seeing the body of a former friend. They did not need to be so disillusioned. He watched as the bounty hunters gathered their ropes, ripping their hooks free from the tiger's body. It swayed as they heaved, nothing more than the heaviness of lifeless flesh.

Their job completed, the hunters departed in staggered groups. No words were necessary between Taizu or the other men, no goodbyes. They had their payment.

He bowed deeply in respect to the courage of the tiger, a final farewell. He straightened, turning to leave when he caught the faint whimper of a crying child. Sango, who had gone to Miroku and Kirara, touched Miroku's shoulder and pointed.

Rin sat in the dirt before the tiger's nose, petting the cooling flesh and calling Lixue's name softly as though the tiger were only sleeping.

"Please wake up, Li-san," Rin choked. "Don't leave Rin." She began to shake Lixue's body, sobs cracking through her throat. "Please wake up."

The tigress did not respond.

Rin began to sob, crawling along the ground to the great furred arm, clambering into the crook of the lifeless creature's elbow and nestling into the clotted mass of blood and fur. She listened hard, pressing herself closer and holding her breath. She strained her ears but for every moment that she was not rewarded with a heartbeat, her own cracked until it finally shattered.

Taizu could do nothing but watch the little girl through the mirror, jaw pressing together tightly and then more tightly still when the girl began to plead with the body, promising to not talk so much and be good if she would only wake up. He desperately directed his face to the others, hoping that one of them would know what to do with a crying child, as he had no idea.

Sango propped her weapon against a tree, approaching the dark shelter in which Rin hid, stopping near Lixue's elbow and crouching down to peer into the dark. She whispered a hello, and registered only the tiniest bit of movement as Rin withdrew deeper into the meager shelter of a dead tiger's chest. Rin held her breath, hoping that Lixue's killers hadn't seen her.

"Sweetie, I won't hurt you." Sango propped her arm on the tiger's jawbone, leaning in further to look for the girl. "Come on out."

_No matter what happens to me, stay out of sight. Don't make a noise. Don't even move until you're sure they're gone. Sesshomaru will find you. Do you understand?_

Sango received no response, and she glanced back at Miroku, who shrugged as best he could with two massive gashes in his chest. Nonplussed, she peered into the shadow of the great beast, a darkness thickened by the absence of the moon. "Little girl? Why are you crying?"

Taizu found the courage to approach as well, the idea of talking to a crying little girl a much more terrifying prospect than killing the beast in whose shadow she now hid. "We know you're there, small one. Please come out… we promise we won't hurt you."

Rin sniffled in the dark, the acrid stench of blood and acid-burned flesh thick in the air. She wiped her eyes on the soft fur, wishing she could go back to just the night before, when all of this was so far away.

"Go away," she whispered into the fur, gripping more tightly.

"Did… did you love this demon?" Taizu didn't want to believe that such a heartless creature could garner such a reaction from anyone, let alone a single human girl, but needed to be sure. "What was she to you?"

Silence. Then the minute voice. "Li-san protected Rin."

"Is that your name? Rin?" He looked at Sango, who seemed to be concentrating, trying to recall something; she was no help at all. "How did she protect you, Rin?"

"She chased away bad people and gave me food and let me sleep in her lap." The whisper wavered. "Rin hoped she would be Rin's mommy."

Taizu flinched. _That_ was not something he had wanted to hear. He swallowed, and found himself offering, "Would it make you happy if I brought her back?"

_What am I saying? _

Three heartbeats later came the soft response, painted with speckles of hope. "Can you do that?"

"I… I think so." He knew that the others were looking at him with bewilderment, but he couldn't justify taking Lixue's life because she had killed his parent when he was about to do the very same thing to this little girl. He gripped the mirror and attempted to find Lixue's soul in the ether as he had so many times before. This time, however, he found his way blocked by a power greater than his own.

_Her soul is mine, monk._ The mirror pressed into his mind with a force he had never felt from it before. He could not release it, feeling its willpower overshadowing him. _Your usefulness has reached its end. _

Miroku shouted to Sango. "The mirror! It's emitting a demonic aura!" He reached reflexively into his robes but only found skin. He recalled that his robes were twisted around him and mentally cursed, digging as best as he could in the various folds to find his sutras. "It's swallowing him up!"

Taizu heard Miroku's cry to Sango and felt a jolt of mild panic before pushing back against the mirror's power. Too late, he realized that this mirror was as Lixue had said: a demonic artifact. The years of its use had allowed it to create channels in his soul through which it now coursed, veins filled with a vacuum. "Stay back!" He yelled. "If it's swallowing me, it will swallow you too," he panted. Weak from the fight to draw in the demon's soul, it was more taxing still to shield his own from the hunger of the mirror. He found himself quickly losing hope that he would be able to get out from the demon's grip unchanged and alternatives began to flash through his mind.

He decided.

"Don't interfere. I have to do this."

He abandoned shielding his soul, allowing the mirror to delve into him with fervor. His mind rode along the back of the mirror to its source while it was distracted with bleeding him dry. The great tree that held the souls the mirror had devoured was immense, blossoms of fresh souls and the wilted husks of the ones that had already gone to sustaining the demonic mirror. Among the otherworldly blossoms he found the tiger's soul in a large golden bud. He drew out the tired soul, pushing it toward the glimmering surface of the mirror as his last vestiges of strength began to flag.

The demon within the mirror realized what he was doing – the tree began to shake violently, entire limbs of glowing blossoms going dark to power the sudden pull that began to drag him back to the tree. He fought, pushing the tiger's soul and hoping it would find its way to the surface should he fail.

Outside of the souls of the mirror and the monk, the scene was playing out much more quickly as his friends watched helplessly nearby. Blood began to pour from his ears and eyes, soaking the bandages in a perverse Rorschach image as his face contracted with soundless pain. He grimaced, hands shaking, black veins of demonic aura spidering up his arms toward his heart. Visible through the cloth of his robes, Sango and Miroku gripped each other's hands as they hoped, prayed, that it would stop before going much further.

The surface of the mirror pulsed, shifting between a sphere of bright gold and the shade of dried blood. His hands began to shake as blood was forced out of his skin all over his body, beads of thick red growing and slowly dripping down his body. An otherworldly screech of anger from the mirror, an echoing yell of pain from Taizu, and the aura surrounding the monk imploded.

The mirror clattered to the ground, demonic aura evaporated and a single crack splitting its surface in two. Taizu was gone.

Silken wisps of silvered light began to leak from the surface of the mirror, tired remnants of souls lifting into the stillness of the night.

Dumbstruck, Miroku numbly looked at the body of the tiger. It remained motionless. Taizu was gone and there was nothing to show for it. He clutched his wound and gasped for air, the pain finally too much to push through. Sango's face was blank, carefully wiped clean except for the concern for her remaining friend. She helped him onto Kirara's back, mounting behind him.

"Wait, Sango," he grabbed her arm. "What about the girl?"

"She's going to be fine. That's the little girl who travels with Sesshomaru, and I think we need to get out of here before he finds out we put her in danger." Sango lifted his hand, and found blood smeared on his palm. "You're bleeding out pretty fast, we need to get you to Kaede's for healing." He couldn't summon the energy to argue with her, especially not with her soft body pressed up against the bare skin on his back.

She propped him up, his weight unexpectedly increasing on her, and she urged her faithful companion into flight. She was worried about the girl being left alone, and she would return after Miroku was stabilized. They'd already lost one friend tonight.

Rin watched the pair lift into the sky before disappearing over the tops of the dark trees. She crawled out from under the tiger's neck, sitting down near the cracked mirror, its surface looking like that of any other mirror. She traced her finger along the thick crack marring it, the last souls leaking out and winding around her hand before dissipating. She lifted her hand and looked at it, surprised that the souls didn't feel like anything, even though they looked so soft. Not even air.

Her lip trembled. She was alone.

Rin nestled back into the hollow she had made in the tiger's fur, cold in the night air. Lixue's body was beginning to stiffen. Rin clenched her eyes, gripping the coat of her dead guardian and pretending she could feel a heartbeat. She imagined the gentle warmth, holding tightly to the feeling of utter security she had felt then. She wished with all of her heart to hear Lixue's voice again, that she wouldn't lose her mother again. She imagined the tigress' arms, the long-suffering sigh. She held herself tightly, tears squeezing out from her eyelids, and slowly sank her way to sleep.


	17. She Sleeps in Your Hands

_Chapter Seventeen: She Sleeps in Your Hands_

Rin dreamed of simple things, a fitful rest guarded by the corpse of the silver tiger; the scent of her blood alone kept smaller demons at bay, tainted with the stink of purification. She awoke suddenly to the feeling of cold hands on her arm, grasping her in their clammy fingers. She screamed and lashed out before realizing that it was Jaken, at which point she grabbed the imp and hugged him close, wailing and not letting go despite his struggles and protests.

The thought entered her mind that where Jaken is, Sesshomaru is also, and she clambered out from the furred hollow to see him standing a short distance away, staring at the tiger's face with another of his unreadable expressions. She flew to him, clinging to his leg and telling him everything that had happened between wails.

He half-listened, examining the mirror and the gory clearing, piecing together the parts that Rin could not or did not understand.

"—and she said to hide and not move until you came for me no matter what," Rin continued, "and she stood in front of the cave and wouldn't let anyone come in— "

Tenseiga pulsed warmly at his side.

He lifted the inert mirror from the dirt, inspecting it and seeing no souls remained within. He dropped it again, ignoring its shatter as he reached for the Tenseiga. Rin finally, blessedly, fell silent and watched her lord with wet and hopeful eyes as he drew the graceful curve of metal from its sheath.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. Where were the underworld's messengers? They were not to be found on the tiger's body, but rather several hundred feet away where her soul had come to rest after its release. The ghostly imps had no chance. As her soul fluttered back to its rightful place, the beads about her neck splintered before shattering into a fine dust.

He returned to Lixue's body, leaning in closely to her enormous nostrils to listen.

There. The faintest breath shuddering from deep within her lungs.

When she did not open her eyes, he experienced first displeasure, then growing concern. He had revived Jaken after being cut in half and Jaken had been fine. Lixue at least had the luxury of being mostly in one piece… he frowned.

She began to revert to her human form, still unconscious, perhaps a reflex of her soul returning to her body. Nevertheless, it was convenient enough to allow him to see the extent of the damage her body had withstood; he understood. He knelt near her, lifting her as carefully as he could with his one good arm before getting on Ah-Un with her limp form. Jaken scrambled onto the dragon's back as well, peering into the demoness' face.

"Come, Rin." Sesshomaru watched Rin clamber up behind him.

"Where are we going, my lord?" She asked. "Why isn't Li-san waking up?"

He held the tigress close to his chest, more tightly than necessary as Ah-Un strode into the sky. "We must return to the castle. The purification has spread through her body and is keeping her from recovering."

Rin looked at the limp hand of Lixue as it dangled over the dragon's flank. "Is she going to be okay?"

Sesshomaru did not answer at first, choosing his words carefully. "She will have the best care possible."

It would be several hours later before Sango would return to the cavern's entrance, mystified to find nothing remaining but blood and dirt churned into the grass and the mirror smashed upon the ground.

oOxXxOo

Lixue could not open her eyes. She was vaguely aware of voices, muffled and strange, but they seemed so insignificant. She wasn't doing anything particularly important, rather lying down in that field of silver lilies she loved for whatever reason. The sun was out, turning the petals to their true shade of a faint pink. She warmed herself in the sun, not knowing or caring why she would hear voices in a place like this. The sea was particularly strange, not breathing in and out as it should but remaining oddly silent except for the sometimes faint whispering of her name. Its voice was familiar yet far away, and she wondered about it while she dozed in the magnificent sunlight.

The grass didn't really seem to exist, choosing instead to take on different textures. At first it was warm and plush like fur, then moved to a silky cloth. It hadn't changed since then. She did and didn't care. So long as she had her lilies.

She had opened her eyes once, and instead of finding her lilies, it had been dark and very cold, and she had been alone. She didn't like it very much, and so much preferred this sun soaked field of lilies by the sea. She had once wondered why but then dismissed the question as boring.

The aroma of the ethereal flowers began to fade, and she found the thought displeasing. She clung to them, their relevance escaping her, but they left just the same as if she hadn't. She breathed in again, the new smells one of bitterness and cloth. Lixue didn't like it. The tigress suddenly became aware of the dry state of her mouth and became even more displeased. When she managed to open her eyes, forcing away a crust of dried mucus, to find herself in the dark in a strange room, she was downright irked. She reached up an incredibly sore arm to rub away the crust on her eyelids, her laconic motion bringing up a host of sudden and intense feelings, confusion chief among them.

Where was the monk? She remembered feeling her soul ripped from her very body, knowing that she was going to die, and not minutes later finding herself in a bed somewhere indoors.

Her mind caught up with her feelings and she quickly scanned the room. Where was Rin? The door slid open and her gaze snapped to the entryway, where a young and round-faced mouse demoness was backing in with a tray of towels and dried herbs. The juvenile demon glanced her way before looking back toward her tray, then her gaze snapped back to that of the tiger. She froze.

Lixue growled murderously.

The mouse dropped the tray and fled as Lixue leapt from the bed – stumbled as her weak legs crumpled under her body – growled at her flailing limbs to warn them to behave or else – realizing she was mostly naked save for bandages wrapped tightly around her body – scrambling to her feet and crashing through the thin paper of the door and spying the mouse rounding the corner at the end of the hall. Her feet found little purchase in the shiny wood of the floor, opting instead to make use of her clawed toes as well to chase after the mouse and demand some answers.

She rounded the corner after the mouse and found several lesser demons in various states of shock, before sending them all scurrying away in a panic with a feral roar. They were hiding Rin from her and she was going to get that thing back whether they wanted her to or not! She slipped in an attempt to grab a weasel's tail and collapsed, adrenaline momentarily failing her and reminding her that she was severely injured. She huffed, taking inventory, legs propped up against a wall and back on the floor.

She repeated this process once more, managing to wedge herself between some stairs after diving after a hare demon. She pried herself loose, rolling down the stairs with an undignified growl and groan before skidding to a stop. She huffed once more, reaching out a clawed hand to grasp at a pair of shoes before her delirious and angry mind.

"Gotcha!" she grinned victoriously. She followed the line of her prey's body up to his face – and her smile faded. Sesshomaru glared at her and she released him.

"What is this I hear about you terrorizing the servants?" Sesshomaru demanded softly.

"I needed answers," Lixue replied impetuously.

"Did you ask any questions?" He lifted her up, suddenly avoiding looking at her.

"Where's Rin? I – what's wrong?" She realized her state of dress and blushed. _Oh._ "Where are my clothes?"

"Your wounds required them to be removed." Was she imagining it or did his ears turn the slightest shade of pink? "Rin is fine. I suggest you get dressed." He turned away from her, disappearing from view as she was ushered back into the room she had awoken in. She found herself suddenly alone with the same juvenile mouse demon from before, the minute creature picking up the items she had dropped on her flight for her life.

Lixue cleared her throat. "Ah, sorry for trying to eat you earlier."

The hip-height bipedal mouse bowed to her.

"Right. Well. Do you know where I could find some clothing of some sort?" She gestured toward her bare stomach. "I don't know where my armor is."

The mouse bowed once more before drawing her attention to an azure-hued kimono laid lovingly on the bed, which had been made since her absence. Lixue thanked her, catching on that she wasn't about to get any conversation from the other demon. She delicately lifted the sleeve of the kimono, feeling the fabric between the pads of her fingers. This was much more expensive than anything she'd had call to wear in a long time, and it looked new. It perplexed her. It would make sense for Sesshomaru to keep spare kimono about – that is, if her assumption that this was his home was true – but unless there was something she was missing, he would have no need for such expensive women's clothing to be new. Her mind began to catch up with reality and she realized that it didn't matter where it came from but rather that she actually _get dressed in it_.

Regardless of _why_ Sesshomaru had it, the kimono fit her very well; after donning it, she fiddled with her hands, wondering if she should leave the room or wait – before remembering that she was _Lixue._ She smiled to herself with satisfaction and boldly left the room… only to stop in the hallway. Which way to go? She sniffed the air, listening for some sound that might lead her outside. Hearing nothing over the murmurs of the servants, she picked a direction and strode down the hallway, trailing her fingers and lightly scraping her claws along the walls.

_My binding is gone, _she contemplated. _Am I dead? If I am, my subconscious has a sense of humor. My father is nowhere to be seen, I'm in some strange castle where Sesshomaru is just as unreachable as before, and I don't even have my armor. I wonder what happened. Did I somehow manage to grab my soul back from the monk?_

She followed the remnants of Sesshomaru when she could catch them, a much harder feat than it should have been; her nose was in ill repair and did not seem to be healing very quickly, like the rest of her body. Even if she had only slept through the night, she should have recovered.

_Damn it, I need some answers._

She tracked him through endless hallways, sudden turns and staircases, magnificent rooms with painted screens and humble storage rooms with large jugs of rice sake maturing on dated shelves. When she caught up with him, he was standing in the shade of a magnolia tree in the garden and studying the water of the koi pond at his feet. Her steps slowed as she circled the garden, the sunshine reminiscent of her dreams of lilies. Their lilies. He heard her approach and turned to face her, judging her appearance as acceptable with a measure of surprise (at what, she didn't care). She stopped an arm's length away from him, trembling with indecision as she wrestled with herself.

Then, to both of their complete surprise, she launched herself at him, embracing him fully and burying her face in his chest. He didn't seem to know how to respond at first, only looking down at the top of the tigress' head. She closed her eyes and he slowly brought his arm around her as well, hugging her softly at first and then more tightly, resting his face in her hair and breathing in the scent of comfort. They held each other as they hadn't for centuries, two timeless creatures in a time-shackled world.

They breathed each other in, his presence somehow realigning everything as it should be and giving her immense comfort. She had missed him more than she let herself believe, and without his interference, she would have never seen him again.

She reluctantly drew herself away from him to look at his face. There was a softness there in his eyes, one she hadn't seen before.

"What happened to me?" She needed to know.

"This Sesshomaru found your body and returned your soul to it. The monk was destroyed by his mirror."

"My… my body?" She blinked. "I died?"

Sesshomaru regarded her. "You did not know?"

"I – well, no. I don't know what I thought. It felt like being asleep." She found herself unable to stand, leaning heavily against the magnolia. "Fuck. I was _dead_." She shook her head to clear it.

"You were very badly wounded and the purification has greatly slowed your recovery." He stepped closer to her, reclosing the distance that she had created, leaning on the tree beside her. "You have been here for nearly a week. The healer claims that your recovery will be at the speed of a human's until the purification in your blood is completely gone."

"A week…" She sighed. "Where is here, exactly?"

"You are at this Sesshomaru's home."

"Thought so. It's different than I remember, though."

"The castle you remember was destroyed. Most of the grounds survived."

She gripped her arm, the healing flesh burning. "Is Rin okay?"

"Hnn. She was unharmed."

She gently nudged him with her elbow. "I meant emotionally. I… died in front of her."

He didn't answer.

"That bad, huh?" She coughed. "How did you bring me back, anyway?"

"Tenseiga."

"Oh, you have it? I guess I thought Inuyasha had both, or something." He stiffened when she mentioned his half-brother. She grimaced. _Whoops._ She changed the subject, feeling him relax slowly once more.

"I guess that means you saved my life." She smiled at him. "I'll have to return the favor sometime."

"This Sesshomaru does not require help."

"Not what I meant, but okay." She ran her claws through her hair, contemplating what to do next. "Either way, I'm grateful."

"Hnn."

They stood there a while longer in companionable silence. She couldn't remember the last time it had just been the two of them and this peace.

She asked him where he had gone. He said it had been to find a way to unbind them, but a lead that had ultimately been fruitless, and now was entirely unnecessary. She was free, as was he.

She tossed rocks into the koi pond to watch them dart away.

oOxXxOo

The days passed slowly, Lixue's wounds even more so. She spent the days in a languor, settling into a routine. She moved into the bedrooms in the castle from her hospital bed, a window with a view of the sea. The mornings were spent exploring with Rin, searching for secret passages where none would be found, a reminiscence of her youth. The early afternoons were hers, spent in the shade of the magnolia reading scrolls of strategy and conquest. When he had learned of her enjoyment of reading, Sesshomaru had ensured that a new piece of literature found its way to her bedside every morning while she was out with Rin. When the evening was beginning its approach, Sesshomaru would sometimes join her in the garden. They did not speak often, preferring to simply enjoy each other's company.

She treasured these simple days, holding them dear in her heart, knowing better than to hope it could be this way forever.

oOxXxOo

The day came sooner than she had expected. He had failed to appear for the last several days, and she soon found herself unable to concentrate on analyzing ancient battle records with its distraction. The entire castle was on edge, servants cleaning spotless floors with the fervor that would be expected from three inches of filth, guards and soldiers adhering to even stricter procedure and armor polished to a nearly-blinding hue. And yet nobody would tell her what was going on.

She had asked Sesshomaru, but he dodged the question. Rin seemed unchanged, but if she so much as glanced at any other living thing in the castle, it would escape from under her gaze and find an excuse to leave her presence.

The sun was beginning its descent from the sky, and he was mysteriously absent once more from the garden. Lixue found herself getting up and returning the texts to her quarters, standing at the window and staring out at the sea. She felt a growing restlessness, the tiger within her awakening with a stretch and yawn. She stripped out of the kimono, fetching her armor from where the servants had stashed it, feeling more like herself as she slipped on her gloves and tied her hair back. She crouched on the windowsill, sheath bumping against her calf, judging the distance for her jump. It had never occurred to the tigress to use the front door as she leapt, landing roughly on the edge of the wall with a grunt. She lifted herself up, swinging her legs over the edge of the wall before jumping off on the other side. The guards watched her wordlessly.

She walked at first, then jogged and finally began to run, feeling her fur begin to sprout all over her body. Her heart lifted as she reached into her full power, something she had almost feared would be impossible, pulling forth the form of the true tiger. She laughed as she changed, shifting seamlessly from running on two legs to four. She rolled and romped as she ran, her flames lacking heat but blazing with her joy. She ran without thinking, following her instinct as she reveled in it. It was only when she burst through the tree line into the waves of gentle pink petals that she realized where she was. She froze, eyes bright, as she drank in the lilies. There were so many more than she remembered, entire hills coated with the flowers, the place of solace her injured soul had dreamed of. She walked reverently among the dark green of the stalks, lowering her head to brush gently against the petals. They kissed her nose and shyly swayed away, the tiger beginning to purr as she waded through them.

_This is like dreaming._

Her reverie was broken by the sound of someone else in her flowers. She looked over her shoulder and registered with surprise the distinctive figure of Adisa. She watched him as he approached her, circling around her with care and dropping to one knee before the tiger.

"My Lady," His voice was rough. "I have returned to pledge myself once more into your service."

She cocked her head at him. "You may stand, Adisa. Why are you here?"

He grinned at her, numerous fangs visible. "I figured you'd want to retake your home now that fa—the monk's dead. They've gotten complacent since you left."

She lifted her head to watch the clouds. "Hmm. An enticing offer, Adisa, but…"

His grin faded. "You'd rather stay with the dog?"

Her crimson demon eyes returned to his face. "Perhaps that's it. Maybe I want a few more months of peace before starting more war."

Adisa frowned, pulling her head down to stare into her face. "That's not like you. Where's the fury?" He slapped her lightly with his palm. Her ears flattened and she growled in warning. "The Lixue I know loves a challenge, and her home is being sat upon by a fat toad demon. He's leaving slime _everywhere._"

He knew he struck a nerve then, her pupils narrowing and her muscles tensing. "Come on, Lixue, don't go soft on me. You're no fun soft."

She pulled her head away from his grasp, snorting and forcing her fur to lie back down flush against her skin. "Give me time to think about it, Adisa. I've only just recovered from death."

"Death, huh? Well I guess I can give you a day or two. I'll be around." He bowed deeply to her once more before departing.

She left as he did, walking a circular path back toward Sesshomaru's castle. _The Lord of the West. _The title floated into her mind, and she shooed it away. Of course he was. So what?

She was welcomed through the front gates, the guards looking nervous but again tight-lipped as to why. In her human form once more, she wandered into the now-dark garden. The tigress wandered its expanse, noting the absence of her lilies in the moonlight. She looked up into the branches of the magnolia, a strange twist in her stomach as she watched the few remaining blossoms sway.

A stranger's footsteps, a confident step.

Lixue did not hear the steps pass, and turned to find a demoness standing primly between herself and the castle. The woman smiled, her eyes giving away her lie. Lixue forced herself to relax, resting her hand near the hilt of her blade. The woman cleared her throat primly, the reflection of the moonlight painting her elaborate kimono in shades of silver and blue.

She spoke. "Tell me, cat. What are you to my Sesshomaru?"

Lixue's brows furrowed. "What?"

"Are you deaf? I asked you what you were to my Sesshomaru." The woman flicked her hair.

The tigress suppressed a growl. "That depends on who you are, exactly." She compelled her body relax once more, her muscles tensing.

The woman laughed, a clear sound, the gentle and elegant tinkle of bells. "I am Honoka." She stopped smiling, fixing Lixue with a hard stare. "I am Sesshomaru's future mate."

With those simple words, Lixue's heart stopped beating.


	18. Woman's a Devil

_Chapter Eighteen: Woman's a Devil_

Lixue shook her head, heart starting up again with hard beats. Her jaw clenched, she brushed past the dog – Honoka gave a delicate huff of irritation as her shoulder was clipped – and leapt to the battlements, swinging her body up again against the cool irregularity of the stone through her open window. She landed roughly, balancing easily and walking swiftly to her door. She opened it, leaving it to dwell in the hallway as she stormed down to Sesshomaru's quarters.

"Sesshomaru! Get your ass out here!" She growled, pounding on the door frame to announce her presence. Her ears picked up his sigh on the other side of the door before he bade her enter.

"I see you have met Honoka." He remained seated at his desk, various scrolls scattered about him, not meeting Lixue's eyes.

"Don't you think I'd like to know if someone's going to be visiting? Especially when they go and make _assumptions _and I don't even know who the hell they are, and they come demanding what I am to you. Now you've got a mate?" She snarled. "Damn it, _look at me!_"

He graced her with a sidelong glance, his expression of immeasurable patience not nearly good enough for Lixue, his voice infuriatingly even and calm. "Why does this bother you so much?"

Lixue tensed even further, the tiger within her thrashing its tail and digging its claws into the ground as it crouched. Her nostrils flared as her eyes dipped into the bright crimson. "Does it matter why it matters? It matters and I need answers."

He frowned. "You will calm yourself."

Lixue refused. "You will explain her presence and why you purposefully hid her from me."

Silence over several heartbeats, the flicker of the candle making the taiyoukai's shadows dance erratically on the furniture.

Sesshomaru stood then to his full measure, stepping closer to the tigress – she tilted her head back to glare at him. His displeasure filled her, a bone-deep knowledge between demons. "This Sesshomaru will not concede to orders from another, no matter who they come from."

She showed her fangs, earning her a growl from the male. Her blood jumped, a confusing mixture of pleasure and anticipation for the fight and dread of fighting Sesshomaru. Then the appearance of the inuyoukai from the garden, her scent tinted with anger and flowers. She tried to step between the pair, Sesshomaru stepping back to make room for her as she toed up with the tigress.

She opened her mouth to speak, but Lixue cut her off. "Don't bother."

She turned on her heel and strode out of the room. She returned to her own quarters, anger coiling in her gut and twisting her nerves up into further agitation. She paced, thoughts sprinting through her and heart twisting, crushing into itself, a strange sensation and entirely unwelcome. She halted.

She knew the dogs were talking, disagreeing, down the hall, but she cared not what it was about. She gathered up her few belongings and tucked them into her sash, hoping that Rin would forgive her for leaving without saying goodbye, and jumped from her window again. She paused on the wall, the guards eyeing her, as she whistled the call for Adisa. She listened for his answering whistle but heard none. Assuming he was simply too far to hear, she leapt to the ground and began walking toward her lilies.

Her anger did not abate as she walked, but shared its space in her mind with growing anguish. She did not have much time to herself, however, as she soon turned her head to hear rapidly approaching footsteps. Lixue paused, one foot in the lilies, as she gripped the hilt of her sword. Waiting.

Honoka crashed through the underbrush, her bulky kimono gone and only wearing what appeared to be a ceremonial armor of no real protection. She had even placed her shoulder guards on upside-down. Lixue's anger flared again, irritation pushing her stripes to the surface of her skin. Honoka sprinted to just a stone's throw from the tigress, slightly out of breath and cheeks pinkened with the exertion. She pointed at Lixue.

"You will not leave without answering me, you ill-bred excuse for a taiyoukai."

Lixue trembled, but not for the reason Honoka surmised. Lixue growled once more. "You are a guest of Sesshomaru, so I will tell you this only once. _Leave my presence immediately._"

The inuyoukai flicked her hair, smirking. "Wrong answer." She twisted forward, an erratic and unpracticed transformation into her true demon form. The snow-painted dog snarled at her, only a foot or so taller than the tigress. She lunged at Lixue, whose fighting spirit gladly rose up to the challenge.

Lixue ducked below the dog's overextended paw, delivering an open-palmed strike to the exposed ribs before darting out. "Give that another try, dog. You get a free shot." She jeered, lowering herself into the very stance she had taught Rin.

Honoka shook herself off, before growling and charging the tiger. She leapt toward the smaller target, feeling a thrill when her claws met with the tigress – only to turn to confusion when the demoness twirled around it and delivered a hard kick to the dog's chin. Honoka yelped, before losing any sanity she had.

Lixue felt the change in her foe, grinning as the dog frothed. She landed lightly on her feet, inviting the dog once more into charging. Honoka fell for the bait, launching herself into a sprint. Lixue screamed in anger, exploding into her true form in a twist of blue flame. The tiger dwarfed the dog, who tried to stop in sudden panic – but she had been going far too fast and met the tiger's clawed paw at full speed. Lixue swatted the dog away with a high-pitched yelp, twirling through the air and four thick lines of crimson spreading through her immaculate white fur. She landed with a whimper, rolling to a halt and crushing the lilies in her path.

Lixue watched her, standing on her fours and her roaring blue flames belying her calm expression. Her lilies were silver in the moon's gaze. The dog did not belong here.

A thunderous roar behind her, and Lixue leapt to the side, narrowly missing the claws that ripped through the air. She flipped in the air to land facing her new foe, heart plummeting as she recognized the three-legged form of Sesshomaru. His jagged markings contorted even more as he snarled, lunging at her again in a remarkably agile way despite his handicap. His jaw closed on her cheek and she came to her senses, instinct driving her to squall and twist her neck to grasp his neck in her claws. He shook her face in his mouth, teeth ripping free. He snapped at her again but she dodged him, her slightly larger size giving her more torque to slam her shoulder into his. His unbalanced stance was easy to exploit, flipping him onto his back. He grasped her foot in his mouth, using his clawed feet to rip at her as she tried to escape his jaws. She bit into his neck, foiled by the thick folds around his jugular and grasping nothing but white fur and skin. She gave up on his neck and leapt on top of him, claws extended, jumping again and again with her hind legs, crushing his lungs until he released her to gasp for air.

She reared up to slap some sense into him when she felt a weight slam into her shoulder, flipping her onto her side. She swiped blindly at her attacker, finding it to be Honoka as she hooked her claws into the smaller dog's body and drew her into a deadly tiger hug. She pulled the demoness in, flipping and straddling her as she held on with her claws. She bit down on the back of the dog's spine with incredible force, her thick neck fur the only thing keeping her spine from being severed as the fur filled Lixue's mouth. She whimpered with increasing desperation and volume as Lixue worked the fur out of her teeth with her tongue, rearranging her grip as she clamped. Lixue's eyes stared forward, glazed over with her murderous mood.

Lixue's ears did not unflatten at the roaring of her name, her teeth did not release their grip, holding onto the troublesome demoness as she felt her flank split open with the stink of acid and the crashing of weight into her side as she was assaulted once more by Sesshomaru. He charged her again, demanding that she release Honoka. Lixue did so, but only to spring at the male, sparks flying in her wake. They danced, a flurry of claws and teeth and fire and poison, Sesshomaru keeping his miasma in check for the other dog but paying dearly for it. He was stronger than the tigress, but she was furious, and he was much less maneuverable than she; the demons dueled on, giving and taking injury in equal measure in the moonlit field of silver lilies.

Lixue reared as Sesshomaru did, using her heavier body to grapple the dog and slash at his face. They broke apart and met again, snarling and angry blood bursting through the wounds the demons inflicted on each other. Honoka had recovered once more and crept around in a semicircle to flank Lixue. Both she and Sesshomaru noticed the smaller dog, but Sesshomaru grasped her shoulder in his jaws and held her still, despite her mouth closing wrathfully on his muzzle. Honoka saw the opportunity for what it was and rushed the tigress' exposed flank, only to be intercepted by a bristling brown-and-charcoal hyena. Adisa bowled the dog over, mane trembling as he snapped at her. She regained her feet and fled to a short distance away. Adisa did not chase her, twisting mid-leap to jump over the tigress and latch onto Sesshomaru's face, releasing and jumping again and again, fangs ripping the flesh in search of the bigger demon's eye.

Sesshomaru gave a roar of anger, trying to release the tigress' shoulder and jerk away but held in place by Lixue's iron grasp of her fangs on his snout. Adisa ceased his eye-hunt and gave chase to Honoka, who had attempted to sneak about again. They met in a flurry of shining fangs but his experience won out very quickly against her and she ran, nips on her backside and tail tucked snugly between her legs. Adisa chased her a short way away, ensuring that she ran back to the castle before sprinting back to his lady's aid.

At Honoka's fleeing of the scene, the taiyoukai ceased their struggling, remaining in an odd embrace of pain – her teeth digging into his snout to constrict his breathing, a clawed paw hooked into his now-red shoulder; his fangs gum-deep in her shoulder, poison leaking into her bloodstream from his saliva. Adisa circled them, watching the stalemate with his head lowered and mane and tail bristling in threat.

The taiyoukai slowly released each other, an inch removed here, a relaxation of the paw there. They drew apart, panting and bloodied, watching each other with suspicion. Neither reverted to their human forms, crimson meeting crimson as she searched his face for any expression but hatred but finding no expression at all.

Adisa came to a stop, sitting at attention at the tigress' side. Sesshomaru glared at him. Adisa would not meet his eyes, choosing to look up at his lady's silhouette whenever he felt the other male's intensity being directed at himself, pretending not to notice.

Lixue spoke first, anger spent. "I'm leaving, Sesshomaru."

He didn't ask why. "Where will you go?" She almost thought she heard a twinge of regret in his voice.

"Back to China. I don't have any reason to stay here anymore." She glanced at Adisa, who wagged his stubby tail in encouragement. "I have been reminded of my responsibilities."

His gaze fell to the hyena as hers did, and while he spoke to Lixue, his eyes didn't leave the other male. "My father had arranged for Honoka to be my mate. She presumes much."

Lixue couldn't explain the relief that spread slowly through her body. Perhaps it was blood loss. Or the poison paralyzing her.

When she didn't respond, he gave a small snort and turned toward the castle, reverting as he did so. She watched him go, Adisa standing to shuffle beside her and watch as well with his round ears pricked. She breathed slowly.

_Please don't go._

She gave the stay-here look to Adisa, who sat down as she trotted after Sesshomaru. He heard her approach, turning to look at the tigress as she slowed. He waited as she stood there, searching for words. She considered turning around and leaving again, but knew that she needed to say something to him before they parted.

"I…" She started, then flicked her ears back. Then forward again. Then back. She shuffled her feet, tail thrashing. "I'm not sorry." She blurted out.

He lifted his eyebrows. "If I could expect penance from anybody, it would most certainly never be you." He spoke, of course, out of experience.

She growled. This wasn't coming out the way she wanted it to.

The tigress dropped her head, pressing the top of her nose against his chest. "I'm not sorry about… her. But I didn't want to leave this way."

He didn't move, and she stiffened before withdrawing the gesture.

He looked up at her silhouette. "Then you did want to leave."

The tigress blinked slowly as she felt another wave of poison work its way through her bloodstream. "I wasn't sure before tonight."

Silence.

"Sesshomaru. That woman is _insufferable_." Lixue drew her head back in an expression of revulsion. "She's nothing like you. How do you even _stand_ her?"

Sesshomaru's mouth twitched. Amusement? "I can handle you. Honoka is mild in comparison."

Lixue felt a ghost of a smile, before the weight of what was happening pushed it down again. She looked off into the forest, gazing at nothing. "If she attacks me again, I _will_ kill her. I gave her fair warning before and will not do so again, 'future mate' or not."

Sesshomaru looked away as well. "I cannot say that it will matter."

"Will you save her again?"

He did not answer, but that in itself was answer enough.

Lixue stood, drawing in her breath slowly. "Goodbye, Sesshomaru. You are always welcome in my lands." She turned and padded away.

Even her hearing could not pick up his whispered farewell.

oOxXxOo

Lixue leaned forward over the edge of the boat, contemplating the sun's rays on the water. Adisa was reclined next to her, glare keeping away the curious eyes of the human crew. He was dressed much more sensibly than she for travel, his bright golden garb outshining his lady's torn and bloodied clothing beneath her abused armor.

He searched her face, seeing only the bone-deep sadness beneath layers and layers of introversion and contemplation. Adisa didn't know how to handle this Lixue. Whenever he could make her smile, it was fleeting, and it never reached her eyes. She never said it, but he knew that she needed his companionship. It was such a _normal_ need.

"You know," her voice cracked, and she licked her lips. "Last time I was on a ship it was eaten by sea monsters and I had to swim the rest of the way. Lost all my stuff." He caught her thin smile. "Hope it doesn't happen again. I can't afford to show up naked on the shore twice in a year."

"Me too, my lady." He grinned at her. "Though I must say that I'm disappointed that you manage to keep your armor intact through transformations now."

She slugged him in his arm. It hurt, but he felt her mood lift. "Ow!" He laughed. "Be nice to your officers, I'm delicate."

"Maybe I need to toughen you up. You've gotten fat working for a toad." She tried to pinch his stomach, but couldn't grip anything but cloth. He grinned again at her obvious bluff. She shoved him away. "Go away, Adisa."

He laughed and leaned against the wood again. "If I did that, you'd miss me. You'd have to find some other subordinate to abuse." His smile faded as he witnessed the dark veil creep back over her face.

Lixue rested her head on her arms, crossed on the edge of the ship as they rocked back and forth. Her soul longed for the silver lilies, flying away from her body to lie in their innocence and beauty. They had been tainted by Honoka's presence, the blood instead of the wishes pouring into their petals. The lilies had been supposed to be a way to remember Sesshomaru when he was hers. Now she didn't even have that.

It used to be so much easier.


	19. Forget the Life I Almost Had

_Chapter Nineteen: Forget the Life I Almost Had_

**A/N: "Long Yearning" and "Crows Calling at Night" are the titles of the poems that appear later on. They are of Chinese origin, written by the very influential poet Li Bai somewhere between 701 and 762 AD. I was also considering his poem "Drinking Alone in Moonlight" which I will put in the ending note of this chapter. Also note that I will be updating weekly on Saturdays.**

Lixue did not sleep for days, watching the sun and moon dance shyly with the ocean between them as the small trading vessel made its way back to her home. _Home._ It was hard to define what, exactly, was her home. Was it the home of her birth or the castle by the sea or the castle she claimed by fire? She toyed with the plain rice set before her by one of the humans. She didn't bother to see which one. They all knew the name of the silver tiger.

They arrived at port in the late evening, in the small hours of morning when the moon was beginning to set but the sun had yet to begin its rise and even the shadows of the hills blended into the ink of the sky. The tigress handed the man the remainder of his fare for the voyage and stood upon the pier with her vassal swaying next to her, the ground solid beneath her feet once more and not leaning this way and that. The cries of the men were strange, and she had to concentrate to determine why; when she realized that they were speaking in her native tongue instead of Japanese, she understood. She was truly back in the mainland.

Adisa led the way at first, grumbling at her insistence that they return to her castle immediately but quieting when Lixue handed him a jug of ill-gotten sake. The hyena drank deeply, the silence between himself and his lady an uncomfortable pressure on the social creature, and sang poetry to himself in an oddly pleasing voice.

_"Long yearning,  
To be in Chang'an.  
The grasshoppers weave their autumn song by the golden railing of the well;  
Frost coalesces on my bamboo mat, changing its colour with cold.  
My lonely lamp is not bright, I'd like to end these thoughts;  
I roll back the hanging, gaze at the moon, and long sigh in vain…" _

Adisa burped and released a hyena howl, a curl of sound that began deep and low to sweep into the high note, relaxed suddenly into silence.

_"The beautiful person's like a flower beyond the edge of the clouds.  
Above is the black night of heaven's height;  
Below is the green water billowing on.  
The sky is long, the road is far, bitter flies my spirit;  
The spirit I dream can't get through, the mountain pass is hard." _

The hyena leaned close to Lixue, ignoring her soft growl, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a companionable way as he sang the last line intimately.

_"Long yearning breaks my heart."_

His good humor, despite the sadness of the sung poem, was infectious and when he leaned back his head to howl his stilting notes, Lixue joined him. They howled in the dark to the distant hills and mountains, alone for miles. Adisa freed her and grinned, poking her in the chest.

"You howl like a dog," he accused, his speech starting to slur.

Lixue slapped his hand away, smile gone. "What did you expect me to howl like? A tiger?"

"Maybe your dog taught you how to howl," he chortled, "while you were—"

Adisa's distinctly hyena cackle jumped through his throat immediately before he felt her claws close around it; he wisely fell silent, sobered and watching his lady warily as she dug into him a little more to cement her point. He had forgotten his place. He forced his own hands away from hers and lowered his hackles to show his submission.

Lixue's claws disappeared up to the tips of her fingers as she stared the taller demon down. "You will not speak of me so flippantly." She released him, a wet sliding of her claws out of his flesh accompanied by the sudden warm sweetness of his blood in the air. "And Sesshomaru is not 'mine.'"

Adisa bowed deeply to her, murmuring his apology, but she had already turned away from him.

oOxXxOo

They traveled for several weeks, a line drawn neatly to the southwest from where their ship had landed that stretched nearly as long as the entire island of Japan. Over four hundred miles passed slowly under her feet, steps she had and hadn't taken before. Her flight from her castle had been so erratic and unplanned that she rarely intersected familiar paths, relying on Adisa's course correction and her own knowledge of the terrain to guide her home. Sometimes she would fail to recognize it without the flames and disparity of her conquest.

It had not taken long for news of her return to spread amongst the peasantry, a plague of wide eyes despite assertions that it must be a rumor. A path spotted with the forms of unnaturally quiet children, the few survivors of her warpath, only saved by their ability to hide and be still as the tiger stepped in bloody pawprints amongst the reeds.

When her shoes wore through, she discarded them; her armor rusted over from lack of cleaning and the steady march through the rain, and it was discarded as well. The tigress did not care. All that mattered was the path before her.

Adisa found his way back into her graces over time, but he was never really out of them. He knew it as well as she did but danced the dance anyway, a well-versed ritual of master and vassal. In the time before she had left, he had been enjoying a drink in the shade of the garden when a servant impertinently asked him what exactly his job entailed. 'I know my job and the boss knows my job. If she decides that I have failed, I'll die.' He had lifted his drink to the baffled servant and then promptly ignored him. His job had no real name, but he held immense power in her service, his word second only to the tigress herself.

Lixue found no need for her money, giving it to Adisa to replace his own worn clothing. He insisted that as his superior, she needed to be kept better than he, but after a few graphic threats he finally coalesced and kept the money. He chose to allow his clothing to fall as hers did, going barefoot before his shoes had even worn through and cutting off his fitted armor when she snapped off the mountain-pattern links of her armor, finding them useless in a small skirmish. He would hunt for them as he gathered information, urging her to rest every few days. Despite her anxious desire to continue the journey, she would fall asleep soundly after wolfing down the food she had ignored before. Had she been alone, she would have simply gone until she collapsed and then maybe catch some dinner to stuff herself with before walking on.

Twice a week he would purposely kill something too large to carry with them, and while she ate in her true form, he would sleep. She would keep watch while he rested, staring off to the east under every phase of the moon, ears swiveling. She gazed at the moon often, but she gazed longest when it carved a brilliant crescent in the sky.

When he would awaken, she would rest, her paws to the west but her ears to the east.

oOxXxOo

Lixue's clothing was all she had left, and even its bright hues had been reduced to tattered tints on threadbare cloth. She began to spend less and less time in her human form, and as they began the final leg of their journey, she never shed her fur and Adisa was never within sight as he gathered information for her.

The day of her homecoming was utterly featureless. The early afternoon sun shone in a cloudless summer sky, the dust kicked up by her paws floating into the tigress' face as she sat and panted from the heat. Her eyes half-lidded to shield from the harshness of the light, she surveyed the castle from a safe distance, allowing them to see her clearly. Her vantage from the well-traveled path offered her an attractive view of her home, and had it been properly cared for, the imposing hilltop castle would have taken her breath away.

Adisa had reported to her that the castle seemed mostly deserted, a mass exodus of the toad's vassals as news of her approach reached their cowardly ears. His own appearance had frightened them as well, a purposeful move on his part to ensure that there could be no mistake: Xing Lixue was alive.

Lixue hauled her 20-ton body to her fours, feeding yokai into her flames to make them fly. She approached the gate, readying herself to break it down when it swung open before her. She growled and suspiciously entered, only to see some of her most elderly human servants bowing against the ground on the far end of the yard.

She breezed past them, her weight allowing her to easily smash through the barricade on the massive doorway. The throne held a humanoid toad, his chin thrust upward in contempt. She stopped before him, curiosity winning out at what he had to say.

"What is the meaning of barging into my home?!" He demanded, slapping a fan closed on his thigh.

_Ah. He's one of those._ She snorted, then showed her teeth in a humorless tiger smile.

"Tell me, do you know what happens to toads in fire?" She blazed in palpable threat, the toad's swallowing clearly visible in the bright blue light, his wet round eyes beginning to bulge.

She pressed closer, head low and fangs dripping with thin plumes of fire onto the cool stone floor. The faint click of her extended claws drew his eyes to their presence, his nerve close to breaking. She could taste his nervousness.

He stood up, reaching into his extravagant robes, but never managed to retrieve his aim before the top portion of his body separated into the fiery maw of the tiger. His flesh strung between the halves of his body loosely, and she slapped his remains onto his shocked handservants. She roared, swallowing two of the smaller toads before the rest managed to get away – only to run into the waiting jaws of Adisa, who ensured that they met a swift end.

Lixue's rough tongue swiped along the floor, cleaning the remains of amphibian from its dark surface. Adisa did a sweep of the palace as she did so, rallying the faithful and ousting or devouring the unwanted. By nightfall, the castle was understaffed but held only those who served the tigress. The elderly servants who had opened the gates for Lixue were brought before her, and she rewarded their loyalty with an extra month's pay. They had been her father's servants, and after his death, they were the ones who had accepted her offer of a job. As such, they had already enjoyed a distinguished position in her castle but could not or did not want to leave when the toad had taken over.

Lixue enjoyed her first royal bath in months, listening to the reports through a screen as she soaked weeks of dirt and stress from her body. Most of her lands had remained intact, her generals doing a fine job of keeping her borders secure from encroaching forces. Her father's castle had been ransacked without her watchful eye, and it had burned to the ground in a human skirmish. The lords responsible had been assassinated and their sons were made into vassals, lands becoming hers in all but name, with demon agents holding high positions in court to keep watch. They would report to Adisa when he came calling, along with the portions of gold due to Lixue's treasury. She was pleased to hear that her empire had continued functioning without her, depositing and drawing from her treasury.

The toad had been convenient, as he had functioned as a deterrent to the power-hungry eyes; they had assumed that the toad was there by her command. Adisa's spy network had ensured that he had only found the smaller decoy treasury in the castle, and not the well-stocked treasury located deep underground. Her armies had been paid out of the underground treasury, operating as per the norm, with her capable officers making decisions in her absence. As she had been fairly hands-off in their direction (beyond 'go besiege that castle until I get there'), they did not suffer but in fact had grown, making her mixed-bag armies a force to draw the attention of the human emperor. Her intelligence had suggested that he was soon to send an envoy to discuss with her; it was good that she would be here to receive him.

Her days were soon filled with reports, orders, and a furious cleaning of her palace. A large number of her former servants had, upon hearing of her return, trickled back into her service but it was a slow process. Most days she tied up her hanfu and cleaned alongside her servants to keep her mind somewhere other than the castle by the sea, digging her hands into soapy water instead of lilies, mouth and heart filled bittersweet.

oOxXxOo

The moon and Lixue were dressed in white, the wind blowing softly with hints of autumn chill in the warmth of the summer darkness. Adisa had returned the day before from a routine run, smoking in the garden below her window. He used to lean on the magnolia in her garden, but Lixue had set it ablaze when her eyes fell upon it; the blackened remains of the tree had been removed and golden champa had been planted in its place. Apparently it was different enough to be spared the tiger's wrath.

The hyena blew rings in the dark, the smoke catching the light of the moon, and his voice husky. He sang most softly when the crescent moon held the tigress transfixed. She couldn't help but think that then was when he sang for her.

_"Yellow clouds beside the walls; crows roosting near.  
Flying back, they caw, caw; calling in the boughs.  
In the loom she weaves brocade, the Qin river girl.  
Made of emerald yarn like mist, the window hides her words.  
She stops the shuttle, sorrowful, and thinks of the distant man.  
She stays alone in the lonely room, her tears just like the rain."_

oOxXxOo

The following morning, Lixue was informed that she had a Japanese visitor. Her heart leapt in her throat, and she dressed in soft gold with shaking hands. She descended with practiced dignity down to the reception hall, swallowing her hope bitterly as the stranger's face turned to her. They greeted each other with bows, and she sat upon her throne, awaiting his reason for his visit.

She noted with mild interest that he was an attractive man, and his voice was pleasing; his scent, however, was wrong. It was thick and the dark green of rotting flowers.

"It is an honor to meet the conquering demoness; most of my journey was through your lands. A most impressive holding for the 'Silver Fang of the Southeast.'" He quoted the title in an almost overbearingly endearing voice.

"Your flattery might win you hearts in the court but it is useless here," she intoned, adjusting her seat in the throne. "It would be most appreciated if you would speak plainly. If you cannot, I will not entertain your presence. What is your name?"

He smiled at her candor. "I will do my best to do as her grace demands." He bowed. "My lady, I am known as Naraku, and I am here to blackmail you."

Lixue blinked in surprise, holding up a hand to halt her men. "How do you plan on doing so?"

The man drew a small vial out of his robe. "In this vial is a poison that can lay latent in the body until activated by a single sting from one of my specialized siamyosho. In a fiery body such as yours, the poison would be purified in a matter of minutes; this is why I caught a certain human girl without her dog protector and have injected it into her system. At a single word, she will be attacked and even Sesshomaru will not be able to save her." He smirked at the narrowing of the tiger's eyes. "I had witnessed your closeness with the girl, even sacrificing your own life to defend hers. Pretending you do not care is useless. The Tenseiga will only work once, and she has already been revived by its powers, as have you."

Lixue stirred her thoughts for a moment. "Tell me your demands that I might know what I am bargaining for."

Naraku tucked the vial back into his robes. "In a few days, you will be receiving an invitation to a gathering of Japanese nobility to discuss matters of state; through my intervention, your mother's bloodline has become court knowledge, and as matters of course you will be invited. You will accept and I will accompany you. You will introduce me as," he smiled, steepling his fingers, "your future mate."

The tigress recoiled.

His smile grew further. "It is necessary. As your vassal I would be an underling, as a simple guest I would be treated as an outsider. Tigers are very open to who they take as mates. As your future mate, I am an equal and will be included in discussions of highest secrecy."

Lixue shook her head. "I am not only Chinese, I have very little tie to the Japanese throne. I would be seen as an outsider, and you along with me."

"Ah, but that is not true. You grew up in court. Your father was close to the Lord of the West before his passing, and you have ties to the current Lord of the West. All of them know of you, and they all know your name. Your battle prowess will prevent insults or slurs, as your wrath is equally well known. According to my sources, the princess of the Northeast panther clan is particularly aware of your propensity for retribution. She will also be in attendance."

Lixue's claws had steadily carved furrows into the wood of her throne, coils of wood curling away from her fingers. "And if I simply kill you now?"

Naraku smiled. "You would be slaying a puppet. Did you honestly think that I would appear in person?" He shook his head, smile disappearing. "No. If you were to destroy this puppet or refuse, the girl known as Rin would not survive the night."

The tigress stared him down. He met her gaze unflinchingly; her mercury eyes bored into the crimson of his own, he knew she covered her claws and she knew that he did not bluff.

"You have tied my hands, Naraku. But you already knew that."

"Clever cat." Naraku stood, then bowed once more in farewell. "When you have arrived in Japan, I will be awaiting you."

His shoes clicked on the surface of the stone as he stalked away.

**A/N: That darn Naraku, putting his fingers into everybody's pie. Just when she had just settled back down! In case anyone was wondering, she left Sesshomaru's place in late spring, spent part of summer traveling, then spent the rest of summer and a week or two of autumn before Naraku showed up. The meeting is in late autumn. She is due to go into heat in the middle of winter. LE GASP. He also references the panther princess from chapter two, if anyone was wondering what that was for. As promised, here's the third poem by Li Bai, "Drinking Alone by Moonlight" – note that the 'cloudy river of the sky' is referencing the Milky Way.**

**_A cup of wine, under the flowering trees;  
I drink alone, for no friend is near.  
Raising my cup I beckon the bright moon,  
For he, with my shadow, will make three men._**

_**The moon, alas, is no drinker of wine;**_  
_**Listless, my shadow creeps about at my side.**_  
_**Yet with the moon as friend and the shadow as slave**_  
_**I must make merry before the Spring is spent.**_

_**To the songs I sing the moon flickers her beams;**_  
_**In the dance I weave my shadow tangles and breaks.**_  
_**While we were sober, three shared the fun;**_  
_**Now we are drunk, each goes his way.**_  
_**May we long share our odd, inanimate feast,**_  
_**And meet at last on the Cloudy River of the sky.**_

Thanks for reading! Please review :)_**  
**_


	20. Sleepwalker's Samba

_Chapter Twenty: Sleepwalker's Samba_

**A/N: This time the poetry's alllll mine. Plus, since I'm only updating weekly, the average word count will go from ~3500 to more! (idk how much more yet.) WARNING: Non-consensual content present!  
**

_Penultimate grace; shadows draw long in the sun. Love whispers goodbye._ Lixue lifted the brush carefully, her hands shaking with the effort of practicing grace. The words for her haiku came more easily than the letters did, a vexing endeavor that had occasionally frustrated her to the point of gripping her brush into splinters. A small pile of tufted kindling sat next to her as proof of such frequent frustrations, and another dwindling pile of brushes awaiting their doom had been provided for her. She wrote haiku of many things, often drawing lackadaisical inspiration from the items in her immediate vicinity.

When she had run out of things to write about in her room, she had simply left the castle entirely with no stops in between. She was dwelling now with her bare feet half-buried in the soft dirt, her small satchel of supplies full of frivolous things. Adisa had insisted that she get 'back in touch' with the lady her father had raised her to be and not the 'reckless hellcat' that had been 'happily rolling around in the dirt and gore for far too long.' She had threatened to roll in some gore of his if he didn't shut his mouth, but his point _had_ been valid. She begrudgingly devoted some less time to sparring with her troops and more to what he had deemed 'ladylike' endeavors.

_As if I ran off to Japan on a whim,_ she snorted. She had been roaming restlessly when she had stumbled upon a public execution; the man's lover had screamed in agony as her beloved's head was removed from his body. Lixue had admired the graceful stroke of the executioner's sword, detachedly contemplating execution methods as the woman grieved loudly. Adisa would probably have mentioned that this was not the ideal setting for one to practice grace and poise, but screw him. She'd do it her way.

So she wrote haiku about execution for a while. In an utterly ladylike fashion, she would like to add, thank you very much.

oOxXxOo

Lixue romped about the countryside in her full fur, delighting in frightening children on their runs to the stream for water and then disappearing when adults came to investigate. Her surprise was unexpectedly turned to pleasure upon finding one child who did not fear her: a preteen boy whose name she did not bother to learn. He was genuinely interested in her, and had she been the conniving sort, he would have easily been her willing lunch. As it were, however, she allowed him to trail along nearby if he so desired. He didn't seem to have a family so much as being the communal child of his village.

She never spoke to the boy, but he soon felt that she was just shy and chattered endlessly to her. She found his petulance amusing in its reflection of herself, tiger-smiling at the angry and shocked adults whenever he would leave the village to walk with the massive tiger. She had returned to his village a few days after her last appearance, and found the village burned and abandoned. Unfazed, she sniffed the remnants of demonic aura that clung grossly to the acidic remains. By nightfall, she ensured the demon lived no more and that was that.

_Peaceful spirit flute, guide home he with stubborn feet; fire and fear be calmed._

oOxXxOo

_The tree stands firmly, limbs reaching proudly upward. Quietly, roots hold. _

She shuffled her feet, tugging on the hem of the hanfu and scowling perpetually at herself in the mirror. This had to be the eighth overly-intricate evening hanfu _alone _that she had been shoved into. Adisa leaned against the wooden supports of the rice paper walls, directing the hapless servants on what to add or remove. He fancied himself far more in touch with fashion than she or any of her equally hermit-prone servants had any interest in being.

"My lady, it will be done much more quickly if you stop fidgeting." He lifted a hair ornament, a simple pearl-tipped length of polished bamboo lined with thin silvery chains. "Get rid of the jade one and put this in its place," he instructed one of the more lively servants.

"I have no need for such… _frippery_," she groaned.

"Must I remind her grace once more that she does, in fact, need such 'frippery'?" He waved away an offering of billowy blue silk in favor of a thicker length of jade green. "You are appearing as the noblewoman you are before your peers. While you escort is less than _ideal_," he sniffed dramatically, "your refusal to cooperate beyond the bare minimum is far more pressing at the moment."

She turned her head as far as she could while holding her arms out to glare at Adisa. "You're acting so fey, Adisa." Lixue gave a miniscule squeak at the prick of a needle in her armpit. "Do you want to go in my place? I'd gladly let you." An elderly servant, mouth full of pins, directed her head back forward.

"Of that I'm certain, my lady. As I have said at least two dozen times, it must be you. Even if you were _not_ being blackmailed, you have an obligation to your father to hold up his good name instead of hiding away like a little field mouse at the first sign of a storm." He ignored her growl, coming forward to help hold her in place for a fitting around her ribcage – she was notoriously ticklish there.

"What do you know of my father, Ad—" she was cut off by a fit of giggles, and she began to struggle against Adisa with no real effort behind it. "(huff)What do you know of (puff) my father, Adisa? You weren't… hoo… around when he was alive." She regained her control.

"You of all people should know that part of my job is information. What kind of… Adisa would I be if I didn't even know about the one who raised my all-knowing, fearsome, _infallible_ leader?" He dodged her elbow strike as she muttered about flattersome nuisances. "For shame, my dearest Lady. Attempting to harm your most faithful retainer. Now hold still, we only need about four more fittings."

Lixue groaned.

oOxXxOo

"I don't know, something _flashy_ with a _boom_," Lixue fluttered her fingers in an imitation of an explosion. "Like I should come down the pier and fireworks should just go off."

"My lady, that is entirely unnecessary." Adisa frowned at her. "Considering that we are not carrying any fireworks with us on the ship, it is also highly unlikely. Any substitution from the gunpowder would not only waste a perfectly good gift but would also likely destroy the pier before you could even get down it."

Lixue pouted and slumped, pushing her elaborate hairstyle forward over her eyes. She grunted challengingly at Adisa when he seemed as if he were about to make a move.

"What do I care? Maybe the explosion would take out that Naraku creep and I could go home." She lolled her head on her shoulders, purposefully crushing the careful loops of her hair against the wall and watching Adisa's cringe with pleasure.

The hyena wisely opted for a change of tack, drawing a thin scroll from his belt and waving it tantalizingly in front of her. "So you would rather go home and not see Lord Sesshomaru's personal invitation to the dance?" She attempted for it in her slouched position and he drew it back, successfully enticing her to sit up properly before handing it to her.

She opened it with far more fervor than she intended, and quickly scanned its contents. Her face fell. "This isn't a personal invitation. He just signed it. That isn't his writing." She tossed it across the ship's room and crossed her arms.

"My lady, did you even read it?" He chided as he retrieved the scroll, pointing to a specific passage as he read it aloud. "It says, 'Lady Xing Lixue of the Southeastern Provinces of China, your presence is _eagerly awaited_ by Lord Sesshomaru blah blah blah who _hopes to speak with you privately upon your arrival_. Does that sound generic to you?"

Her mouth twitched in the beginnings of a smile. It was gone in a flash, but he saw it. She knew he saw it and she showed her fangs instead.

"Speaking of 'that Naraku creep,'" Adisa imitated her flawlessly, "I did some digging around and there's something that puzzles me. Apparently Lord Sesshomaru has been actively tracking Naraku because he had the gall to kidnap Rin. Why would he then present himself on a silver platter in the man's own home?"

"Perhaps Naraku is depending on his civility and restraint, that Sesshomaru won't want to cause a diplomatic incident with China or something." Lixue had reclaimed the scroll and was tracing the words with her claw. "Or start a fight with me personally."

"Hmm. I wonder if he knows about your history with Lord Sesshomaru? Perhaps he thinks that your recent spat with the dog and his intended will be enough of a buffer between you that he won't pay attention to your body signals. I doubt you would be able to get Sesshomaru to speak with you without Naraku nearby." Adisa opened the door, peeking into the hallway before closing it and sitting back down. "This is probably why he will be waiting for you at the shore."

"For _us._ I'll kill myself if I try to put that hat on again. You're on dressing duty." She scowled, jabbed her vassal in the chest.

"I still have trouble fathoming how you managed to get yourself tangled in it the first time." He rubbed his jab-wound gingerly. "The thing only has one strap."

"I work in mysterious ways, none of which involve hats."

"I see. Well, in the case that we are forced to separate, you will be marginally pleased that I have marked your outfits with matching ribbons. Green with green, so on and so forth." He gestured to the many trunks against the wall.

"Just in case."

_Starlight under waves, come forth into my being. Lift me from this dark._

oOxXxOo

Lixue held her head in pride as she crossed the sodden wood of the pier, dressed in an understated deep brown hanfu, its surface coming alive with iridescent silver dragons as the sunlight ran across the natural shape of her body. They streaked across the surface of the fabric and dissipated just as quickly. Adisa followed along demurely, carrying one of her five trunks laden with outfits and gifts; the others were being hauled out one by one by pairs of men.

She knew Naraku the moment her eyes found him. His faint smile grew as her expression hardened. He bowed before her extravagantly, almost patronizingly. She returned his bow shallowly to show the utmost disrespect.

He only smiled more. She could posture all she wanted, show her fangs and circle him, but the fact remained that she was here and she would do as she was told. Like or not, she would obey.

"Jin Adisa," Naraku drawled, standing before hyena, who was minding his manners and avoiding looking the hanyou in the face. "You will not be accompanying us."

"He will." Lixue asserted. "I require a dresser. Unless you _want _to be embarrassed by my appearance, in which case, go ahead and make him leave. I'm sure there are _plenty_ of Japanese handservants spare in a castle filled to the seams with nobility that are familiar with Chinese fashion, because I'm sure as hell not." Adisa forced his face to remain impassive. His lady had thought this through.

Naraku was not as amused. "As you wish, my dearest. He will meet us there." He held a hand to Lixue, who stared at it.

"You know where we're going." She directed this to Adisa, her eyes lifting to the narrowing crimson orbs of the spider. "I trust you will find a way to get all of this stuff over there too."

He bowed to her, before opening one of the trunks and handing her a heavy bag. "Travel clothes and necessities." She thanked him with a touch of her claws, not trusting the watchful eye of Naraku, whose outstretched hand was still awaiting her. She brushed past him, and he dropped it, a soft smile playing on his face at her defiance.

Lixue could only growl as he grasped her firmly about her waist, pinning her arms and lifting them in a sudden billowing carpet of his midnight purple shoki. A shimmer in the air spoke of the barrier he had thrown up about them, should she have the bright idea of jumping off or if they were spotted from an archer on the ground. In a way, she had to appreciate his forethought, but that didn't stop her from elbowing him as soon as he released her.

"Don't touch me so familiarly," she breathed, looking with interest at the ground below them. As a strictly ground-dwelling creature, she had had little call to go flying about in the air. "What is this that we're riding on?" She leaned over the side and he mistook the action, gripping her tightly on her arm before she shook him loose. He purred.

"We are traveling by the power of my miasma. Do not lean too close or you'll be poisoned." She lifted her head away from the purple clouds, believing his words to be true. "It is no less toxic, simply held in place by my will. It is your own yokai imbuing your clothing that keeps it from being melted clean off."

_Good thing I learned how,_ she grumbled internally. _He leers enough already._

"Are you not curious as to our heading, cub?"

"Don't give me that. I'm easily seven times your age, if not more." She scoffed. "Does it matter where we're going?"

She stiffened as she felt his breath upon the back of her ear. "You have spirit." Warmer than the sun's heat, magnified through the refraction of the barrier, came his breath. "I will quite enjoy breaking that." He caught her arm mid-retaliation and twirled her around, smiling far too closely to her face for comfort.

"We are going to my home for a few days, little tiger, to tone down this ridiculous idea of superiority you have before presenting you to the court as a woman born anew." His eyes never left hers as he placed a gentle kiss on her wrist, fangs barely scraping her skin.

He only smiled as she drew her hand away.

Like it or not, she would obey.

oOxXxOo

She knew before her foot touched the ground that the castle was an illusion; she didn't know _why _she knew, only that the wind hit her in the wrong way. She had refused his offered hand, but he had grabbed hers anyway, a forceful play at gallantry. His smile never reached his eyes and she did not smile at all.

She gazed about at her monochrome surroundings coldly, her hands tucked inside of her sleeves. She did not want to listen when he spoke. He led her through the colorless castle, its walls whispering of the power that had been used in their creation; she heard nothing but their own footsteps. No creaking of a protesting board, no whisper of excitement among the servants (perhaps he was the sort to have slaves instead) at their master's bringing home of a woman, not even the rustling of leaves or dirt from a natural breeze. Only their footsteps, echoless and small, and the pushing of the soundless demonic wind.

The miasma swirled about their feet, its heaviness making her stomach churn as she breathed. She concentrated on keeping her feet below her, her vision blurring slightly and her heart beginning to race. She reached for her true power for comfort; its usual presence just under the surface of her skin now widened to a chasm between, resting on the far outcropping of rock. Its distance speared her with fear, her instincts screaming at her to run, _escape_, but her loyalty to a single human girl forcing her to stay.

He guided her to an unadorned room, devoid of any decoration or furniture – not even a chamberpot squatted in the darkness of the corners. _Surely he is kidding. _He blocked her exit with his body, shutting out what little light had leaked into the room. He ignored her growl of warning.

"Lixue."

His purring of her name made her skin being to crawl, the sensation of thousands of insects squirming under the surface giving her an uncontrollable shiver. It only lasted for a moment before she quelled it, but Naraku smiled, witness. A small stone of dread dropped to the bottom of the tigress' stomach.

"You–" Her words were sliced short by the explosive emergence of Naraku's tentacles, slapping her hard across the face and giving her a moment of dizziness – all the time Naraku had needed to firmly wrap her in them, spreading her limbs away from her body and gripping her neck tightly. Her hair had been knocked loose from its sculpting, and a silly, spare thought flicked across her mind that Adisa would be upset as her locks twisted and caught on the waxy spines of the tentacles shifting about her body. She purled a feral growl, calling forth her tiger to rebuff the unprovoked attack, thick moments of waiting confirming her fear that the miasma had stripped her true form from her. She struggled, even her herculean strength negated by the suspended position the spider hanyou held her in. She would not believe that he had caught her so easily.

The flimsy human skin she was wrapped in began to split open against the cold grip of Naraku, the spiny protrusions digging into her as she strained to free herself. He only watched, smiling, as the blood began to pour from his prey.

Lixue's growls sank to a strangled gurgle as the vice around her neck tightened further. The thick warmth of her blood acted as a lubricant between her skin and the waxen barbs, allowing them to drag her wounds open further in jagged furrows. Allowed nothing from which to gain purchase, no leverage or movement beyond the barest that only served to exacerbate her predicament, she found herself stilling. She panted, forcing herself to focus on Naraku's face as he lifted her closer.

He chuckled. His breath swam murkily over her clammy skin.

He licked her jawline, slowly and deliberately. She twisted her neck, unable to avoid the clear line of sludge his tongue left in its wake.

"Could it be, my _dear_ Lixue, that at even with your age you are a virgin?"

She stiffened.

His smile widened even further, eyes twinkling.

"As I had suspected," he muttered, repositioning the poison-debilitated demoness to stroke the back of her thighs. His fingers found the large tears from her struggle against him and delved inside the cloth, running his claws gingerly across the scarred porcelain skin. He left her ungagged, enjoying the mortified silence he had elicited from her.

"I watched much more than your death, you see." He began to rip the cloth before him to shreds, revealing more of the tigress' body beneath. She shook, the last brittle leaf clinging desperately to the winter tree. "Imagine my surprise when the great and lordly Sesshomaru was bound to a complete stranger. Even greater was it to later find that you were not only _not_ a stranger, but so dear to his heart to sleep with you wrapped in his embrace? _Such_ a tender moment." The last scraps of cloth fell to the hard wood of the bare floor. "Though I'm sure you don't remember his whisperings to you, under the influence of the flowers after all."

She could not see him, her imagination exploding into thousands of possibilities, none of them ending with anything but darkness. A sob tore through her throat as his fingers pressed against her sex.

"Did you believe that you would find a way to be with him? He seemed to believe so. There is one… minor… detail… that you have forgotten, love." He kissed her skin lightly, punctuating his words with nips at her exposed and trembling flesh.

"Demons don't get happy endings."

He thrust his finger into her, scraping his claw along the inside of her vagina as she gave a muffled scream before withdrawing it again. She bit her lip, squelching her fear and narrowing her eyes as anger welled up inside of her. Helpless, useless anger.

He licked his finger, sucking on it before releasing it with a dull pop.

"We are the enemy. By our very nature we destroy, and will be destroyed."

He began to drag his claw lazily along the inside of her thighs, trailing thin streams of his saliva and her own tint. She could only listen, spirit breaking, as his velvet voice wound its way through her ears down into her heart.

Tears brimmed on the edge of her eyelids.

"Humans can dream of a happy ending because their lives are so pathetically short. Did you honestly believe, despite your own experience, that _you_ would stand a chance? That unlike every other demon you have ever known, that you would live out your immortal lifespan with your love? Fool. You save yourself for a man you will never have."

He assaulted her again, stretching her untested folds to accommodate the sudden intrusion of his hand. She cried in pain and indignation as he carved channels into her most intimate parts of being, ensuring his mark would forever be engraved in her as he broke through the barrier that had spoken to the purity of the slate tiger. Rivulets of blood threaded down his hand and dripped onto the twisted mass of tentacles below.

She snapped.

Power poured into her body as she managed to summon a miniscule portion of her nature; it was enough to allow her to snap free the appendages restraining her arms and twist, stripes jagged and furiously sprinting across her body. Her fangs and fingers were nightmarishly long as she used her flexible spine to curl back toward her captor. Naraku recoiled as droplets of what felt like magma splattered across his body, withdrawing his hand from the tigress as she grasped his face in her claws. She yowled, silver eyes silver no longer, vengeance hot upon her tongue as she gripped his jaw in her teeth. She gripped with the intensity of her hatred as he writhed, beating her body with all of his might, fresh bruises and thick slashes of blood blossoming beneath his beating.

Still she held, fire-born saliva melting away his flesh and exposing the sinew and bone beneath.

He wound his body around hers and heaved. She heard the snap of bone and she came away, his jaw still clenched in her mouth. He threw her across the room, slamming her into the wall as he retreated. She had only enough time to barely glimpse the gaping hole beneath his cheeks, tongue lolling out amongst the river of coagulated and poisonous blood, before he shut her inside.

She released the putrid bone from her mouth and threw herself at the door, finding that he had sealed the entire room with a barrier. She threw herself into the walls, the door, screaming her hate.

He had taken something beautiful and twisted it.

_Slam. _

He had witnessed the hope she had held far below, the hidden lilies, and tainted their silver purity with his insidious words.

_Slam._

No matter how long she lived, or how dead she killed him, he would always be branded there inside of her.

_Slam._

She spent her strength, the eternal twilight in the room giving her no hint as to how much time had passed. She curled in the corner, gathering what scraps of clothing she could find and covering herself as best she could.

The tigress hung her head and cried.

**A/N: Please review!**


	21. Sing Sweetly for the Dog and Tiger

_Chapter Twenty One: Sing Sweetly for the Dog and Tiger_

**A/N: Remember when having feelings at all were heartbreaking? Ah, Lixue, you've come a long way, but you have so much farther yet to go… Also, I am sorry that this was late my lovelies. I couldn't decide which way to take this chapter.**

_Her father's form filled her vision, the cub's face hidden in the plush blankets but growling a fearsome warning in the dark. On the far cusp of childhood, it had deepened from a raspy tremble to a throaty rumble to rival even his own. He sat on the edge of her bed, the darkness negligible for the creatures, gently stroking his daughter's head just the way she liked it. Her growls began to rise and fall as his hand did, ebbing away into silence._

_"My zhanshi, it is unlike you to decline a challenge. What is on your mind that has depressed you so?" He was referring to an incident earlier in the day when his 300 year old daughter, despite her obvious frustrations with her lessons, had refused to acknowledge her usual mark's goading; just two days prior, she had tied him upside down from the rafters after beating him silly for simply looking at her a certain way. He had waited for the day's end to ensure that she was not simply becoming devious and waiting to punish him, but instead had only witnessed her listless wandering. _

_"Papa, I keep dreaming of a song." The adolescent tiger hummed the few, simple notes, not noticing her father's stiffening. "I can't sing it right. Something's missing." _

_The woman-child did not remember, did not know that her father had ached as she had; her soul remembered the castle but could not whisper of it. He had told her to put the castle and its inhabitants behind her, the summers a thing of her childhood. She had tried, she really had. He saw in her eyes the beginning of what would only end in soul-crushing heartbreak, and he took the only course of action he saw available to him. _

_He had taken the trust of his daughter and used it to give her a way to suppress the heartache. He used it to give her peace. _

_He held her hand tightly, her confusion etched into her bones. Her soul sang to her the songs she could not remember. This burden was his now._

_"Papa, I can't sing it right."_

Lixue woke slowly to the thin darkness, stiffness speaking to the fitful rest she had finally achieved. Her wounds had healed, and if she had wiped away the blood encrusting her body, she would find only fresh scars beneath, inside and out. She still felt the phantom touch of the tendrils, the words of the spider burned into her skin where he had touched her. Where he had violated her.

She shuddered weakly at the memory, squeezing her eyes shut and reaching for the comfort of her true demonic power. It lurked there beneath the surface of her skin, pushed back into dormancy by the thick miasma she breathed. When she had first noticed the miasma's presence, she thought that surely it was coming in from a crack or flaw in the barrier, seeking its source. She was and wasn't surprised to find that it was simply being pumped in by the barrier itself before coughing up a wet clot of blood and lying back down in the purple fog.

She watched the clouds swirl lazily across the ground, eyes glassy.

_What am I doing? _

She sat up abruptly, vision spinning wildly.

_All of this wallowing is unbecoming._

Lixue bit her tongue, nearly piercing it with her fangs. The pain focused her vision, sparked her anger. She compressed her shame into a dense sphere of bedrock, pressing it into the deepest recess of her heart, burying it in the dirt and waiting for the seed to grow.

She swallowed the blood flowing from her tongue, concentrating until a plume of blue flame weakly leapt forth into her cupped hands. Her victory. With every breath, her wrath and fire grew.

_In. _

This was not her fault, and she had no reason to act as if it were.

_Out._

This was _his_ doing, and _he _would be the one to pay for it.

_In. _

For every drop of blood, she would have her pound of flesh.

_Out. _

She was Xing Lixue, Silver Fang of the Southeast, She who Consumes, and she was _nobody's_ plaything.

She released the blue flare, setting her body alight as her beloved stripes bled into her skin. The miasma caught the fire in an explosive wave, the permeation of the poisonous gas in the barrier causing it to shred. Pinpoints of pain covered her body as her fur began to sprout, coating her in its glossy sheen as she tore through the remains of her containment. She followed her wave of fire through the halls, an aftershock of flesh, falling to her fours when her shifting skeletal structure would not allow her to remain bipedal.

She burst through the corner of the dilapidated architecture in a glorious blossom of heat and hatred, bellowing her triumph and rage, the tiger challenging the spider to test her fire.

"Dance of _blades!_" Sheets of wind ripped into the ground before the tigress, their wave of destruction ample warning for her to avoid injury. Lixue pirouetted, using her momentum to push off of the ground toward her foe, the faintly familiar stink of the miasma and feather cartilage pushing her rage to an even greater measure.

Kagura nimbly avoided the five scythes of Lixue's paw and swung her fan upward, but even the power of Kagura's fan could not do more than tilt the weight of the massive tiger at such short range.

The cat twisted in the air, swinging her body around mid-flight to greet the wind sorceress once more. Kagura, however, had lifted herself beyond the tiger's reach upon a giant feather. She knelt on the white plumes, watching the tiger pace and roar at her quarry, now so neatly out of reach.

Lixue circled the ground below the strange wind woman, finally placing how she knew the scent – this was the very same woman who had appeared before luring Sesshomaru away on a fruitless endeavor while Lixue herself had been killed. Lixue ceased her pacing and sat tensely on her haunches, staring up at her would-be prey as it floated above her. She began judging the distance between them with bobs of her head before releasing her body upward with explosive force, reaching as far as she could upward with claws extended.

Kagura tried to lift herself upward again, but the wind came too late as the tiger caught the tip of the feather with her paw – when the winds she had summoned appeared not a moment later, it only succeeded to flip the feather end over end and the wind sorceress tumbled from her perch, dropping her fan.

Lixue, who had already begun her descent, bent forward as she fell to catch the helpless demoness in her jaws. Kagura felt the tiger's jaws close on her rib, encasing her right arm and a portion of her body in warm wetness and the hooked surface of the tiger's tongue.

The tigress landed roughly, bending her legs to soften the fall but feeling her fangs puncture the demoness' body in her mouth. Kagura screamed, dangling uselessly from the tiger's lips and only able to claw at the giant pink nose above her. Lixue sneezed, coating Kagura's arm with tiger snot, and adjusted her grip on the other woman; Kagura felt herself propelled into the air, but before she could take advantage of being so, was once again trapped between Lixue's jaws from mid-thigh down. Kagura screamed again, twisting vainly in her inverted position and wiping her blood from her face as it cascaded from the thick fang-wound on her back.

"Release her." Lixue snapped to look over her shoulder and growled, showing her teeth and tensing at the appearance of Naraku. Release Kagura she did, launching herself toward the spider and screaming her hate.

Lixue's body did not slam into his as she had intended, but rather fell through the opening he created with his retreating tentacles; her vigorous launch did not allow her to reverse her motion, learning too late that this enemy was not one that her fearless charge was useful against as she was swallowed up by the hanyou's body. She released a blast of swirling fire from her body, not knowing that she had saved herself from absorption as she clawed her way free of the recoiling flesh.

Lixue bounded a short distance away and skidded to a halt, keeping her enemies to her flank and circling them as she reassessed the situation. Kagura had picked herself up from the dirt, breathing shallowly on her feather and a large streak of blood testament to the grievousness of her wound. Naraku was draped in what seemed to be the pelt of a white baboon, tentacles blooming from the bottom of its hem. Craters melted from thick swathes of the flesh spoke to her fiery cloak. She tasted the air, finding with surprise that she could not smell herself on him – only the acid of burning flesh and metallic tang of blood.

"Your servant isn't even worth showing up in person, Naraku?" She sneered. "I should have known better than to expect a coward to be anything other than what he is."

A tiny white flash of reflected sunlight drew the tiger's eyes to the small demon girl in white standing nearly at her tail, the mirror she held prompting the demoness to swing her weight around immediately. She had had quite enough of mirrors, especially on such empty-eyed creatures, and even more so when they were so _sneaky._

"Look well, love." The creature posing as Naraku hissed from the shadow of the baboon fur.

Lixue rumbled in response and crouched, warily bringing her eye to the level of the mirror. She covered her fangs and extinguished her fire.

There, in the mirror, Rin slept. On the blankets next to her porcelain arm, a wasp-like creature bigger than the girl's foot delicately crept. She was alone, in what Lixue recognized as the room she had stayed in at Sesshomaru's castle.

"Have you forgotten what's at stake, my _dear_ Lixue?"

The tigress closed her eyes. The spoken threat had been enough to bring her here; seeing it was enough to make her stay.

oOxXxOo

Adisa sat restlessly on the rocks near the path that led to Sesshomaru's castle as he had for the last two days, watching for his mistress. Rin sat in the grass nearby, twisting the late summer flowers into garlands.

Sesshomaru had been there to greet him when the hyena had arrived, inquiring as to the whereabouts of 'Lady Xing.' Adisa could tell him nothing but that she would arrive; his evasive answer had irritated the inuyoukai, who glared at him before walking away.

The little girl had hovered near the edges of his vision for the better part of two hours before mustering the ability to ask him where 'Li-san' was. He could only tell her the same thing, and her hopeful face turned crestfallen. The little girl had then taken up waiting with him during the day and sleeping in Lixue's bed at night. At first the imp had accompanied the girl, obviously under orders from Sesshomaru to keep an eye on the girl in case the hyena decided she'd be a tasty snack – that had been short-lived, however, as the pair had entertained themselves by irritating poor Jaken. Adisa wouldn't have eaten her anyway – if he was scared-but-respectful of his mistress, he was terrified of the dog demon lord she grew up with.

Adisa grunted as Rin clambered behind him (narrowly missing his tail) and placed a third crown of wilting and crushed flowers on his head.

Sunset came and went, and the dispirited demon took the girl's hand and led her home.

oOxXxOo

Lixue adjusted the bag on her shoulder as she walked, the moonlight casting shadows on the dirt and illuminating only her bare toes. Her shoes were safely inside of her bag, as was her change of clothes for when she was about to arrive at the castle. Naraku kept pace behind her, irritation evident at her refusal to fly with him again. His need to arrive with her superseded his distaste for walking, however, so the spider hanyou took steps alongside his 'beloved.' What would have only taken half a day's flight had now been stretched over three days.

Naraku adjusted the thick layer of fur around his shoulders. The tigress hadn't needed extra warmth, and was comfortably dressed for summer despite the chill breeze of autumn. The spider hanyou was not so lucky as to be warmed by internal fire.

The tigress had not been easy to contain after her taming on the first day. He had had to adjust his tack after her unexpected destruction of his castle and near-fatal mauling of his incarnation; she had shown every sign of being mentally broken after he had surgically exploited her weaknesses. He soon found that she would keep herself in check if given her space; merely the image of the delicate human girl in trouble was enough to quell any insurrection from her. He was careful not to employ it too often, however, as he sensed that should he push the tiger hard enough, she would no longer find the girl's life worth her own and would therefore become uncontrollable.

Naraku liked control. Therefore, the tiger was permitted to walk.

He did _not _like appearing in the flesh for this occasion, but Lixue had an uncanny ability to know if it was really him. She had made the very valid point that should it be revealed that he had not deemed it worth his time to appear in person for his debut, he could very well destroy his chances before they had begun and insult the very demons he was trying to get in with. Her unusual clarity disturbed him, but whether she were planning to destroy him or not, her words made sense.

So far she had not made a move against him, nor had she even spoken to him since beginning their journey.

And that was just fine with him.

oOxXxOo

Adisa woke just before dawn, the soft breathing of the other servants in the dormitory even and measured. He lifted himself from his bedding and crept to the door, slipping out into the sparkling darkness.

The hyena left the grounds, the guards allowing him through without question. They knew him well enough now. He lifted his ears and strained them, hoping to catch what had woken him.

Hearing nothing, he gave a soft whistle, perking his ears immediately after and staring, rewarded with an answering signal. He grinned.

Adisa turned around to the curious demons behind him. "My lady is coming."

The reaction was immediate; one of the guards was dispatched to the servants' quarters to rouse them, and the other pulled a rope that apparently housed bells throughout the inner portion of the wall to alert the other guards to the approach of a dignitary.

Sesshomaru was among the first to arrive at the gate, unruffled at what was surely the interruption of his sleep and pinning Adisa down with his golden gaze. The hyena bowed to him, but kept his eyes on the road.

Lixue scented the mixed scents of her loyal retainer and Sesshomaru with the other demons assembled for their arrival, willing herself to slow her footsteps. She was dressed in gentle pinks and whites, blood mostly scrubbed from her skin with sand since Naraku had not thought to provide anything for her to clean herself with. She hadn't had a bath in days, and she stank of blood, body odor, poison and Naraku. Scented oils could only do so much.

Adisa found the form of his lady in the distance, but as soon as her tainted scent found its way to him, his heart plummeted into his stomach. Sesshomaru stiffened, and Adisa didn't have the courage to look the inuyoukai in the face.

The hyena forced himself to stay where he was as his mistress approached, finally finding her face in the brightening darkness. Pockets of dark skin lined her eyes, her hair lank and unkempt despite her clean hanfu. She hadn't put it on quite right, the fabric's design failing to hide her myriads of scars as he had so carefully arranged it to. Her face held a certain kind of hardness despite her expression of eagerness, her secret burden much heavier than it had been just a few days ago.

Naraku smugly stroke next to her, his eyes firmly meeting those of Sesshomaru. It was a challenge that even Adisa could see – _attack me and risk much more. Her scent is laden with my own. _

To Naraku's disappointment, Sesshomaru allowed them to approach. Lixue tried to catch Sesshomaru's eye surreptitiously, but he refused to look at her. He returned their bows and had a servant show them to their rooms.

Naraku cleared his throat as Sesshomaru turned away, the taiyoukai pausing to hear what the hanyou had to say.

"We will only be needing _one_ room."

Sesshomaru did not respond but continued on his way back to the castle, his mood only determined by the stiffness of his shoulders and the speed with which he left.

Adisa was the only witness to the trembling of the tigress, and his heart hurt.

oOxXxOo

Lixue leaned heavily against the side of the bed, attempting to calm her heartbeat and biting her lip to keep herself from descending into tears. Adisa gently worked the oils through her still-wet hair, respectfully keeping his eyes averted and humming gently to soothe her. Something had her rattled far more than he had expected, and there was something different about her scent. Even the bath hadn't been enough to get her right. Naraku had left for his own bath, leaving the pair on their own for a few precious minutes.

"Adisa," she whispered.

He grunted to show he was listening, measuring oils into the palm of his hand.

"Do I still smell like him?"

"A little, milady."

She was quiet, allowing him to brush her hair in peace for a moment. He waited, knowing his lady well enough to know that she had something else to say.

She hiccoughed, tears on the edge of her words. "He… I was so helpless, Adisa."

He froze.

She curled up closer to herself.

"What did he do to you, milady?" he murmured, mind racing through the possibilities.

"His poison kept me from transforming, and he grabbed me and…" she gulped in a breath of air, words shaking as violently as her body. "We're not mates, at least, but… he took his hand, and…" she mimicked the motion with her hand, and her lip quivered.

Adisa grabbed her wrists and did something he had never done before, nor would ever do again. He pulled his lady into a hug.

Lixue stiffened at first but quickly melted into the hug, desiring and needing the comfort that Adisa offered. She pulled away after only a few moments, sensing Naraku's return and forcing impassiveness into her expression.

Adisa picked up on her signals and began to work on her hair once more, concentrating on the task at hand instead of what Lixue had just told him.

Naraku breezed into the room, smelling much fresher but still carrying the permanent twinge of miasma on his scent. He stood next to the bed, staring at the hyena, who obediently moved out of the way despite the desire to raise his hackles. Lixue's eyes were downcast, her hands folded.

"I assume you are ready for breakfast." Naraku spoke down to the tigress. An underling, never an equal.

"I want to say good morning to Rin first." Lixue's voice was strong, despite her demure expression. "Then we'll go to breakfast."

"You negotiate for everything." Naraku smiled despite himself. "Very well. You will say hello to the girl and then return here."

Lixue grunted and left, Adisa excusing himself to follow her out. He departed to go pick out today's outfit.

Lixue opened the thin paper door to Rin's room, finding Sesshomaru sitting on the edge of the girl's bed. He looked up to see her, then immediately looked away, stiffly standing to leave. He brushed past her, ignoring his name whispered from her lips. She listened to his steps as they disappeared down the hallway, wishing she could stop him and tell him everything. She gently pressed her weight onto the girl's bed, curling her body slowly around the warmth of the child and listening to her breathing.

She reflected as the sun crept higher into the sky. Rin would be waking soon, and the introduction of Naraku as her future mate would be at hand, as well as a whole day of dealing with politics and smiles that don't reach the eyes. If his snubbing so far was any indication, Sesshomaru would be giving her the cold shoulder for the entire visit, a prospect that pushed on the bottom of her heart.

She closed her eyes and buried her nose in the thin softness of Rin's hair. She had missed the girl more than she had guessed. _Of course, that's all my life is now. Missing things I care about._ Rin began to stir and Lixue's dark thoughts lifted.

Rin turned and her sleepy face split into a grin. She rubbed her eyes and wrapped Lixue's head in the tightest hug she could manage, her obvious happiness prompting the tiger to purr as she hugged the miniature human in return.

_This is worth saving._

oOxXxOo

Lixue ignored Naraku's gaze as Adisa fitted the golden silk around her shoulders, its iridescent gossamer trailing down the front of her hanfu. She cocked her head, the thin beads of her hairpin tapping against her hair. Her second favorite outfit for the trip, she decided. She wanted to keep the best one for the dance tomorrow night.

The introduction had gone by with very few hitches, their presence not announced by fanfare or page or anything of the sort. Many nobles had trailed in slightly hungover, a drinking contest apparently part of the previous night's agenda. They gave her the proper greeting of visiting nobility, but Naraku seemed to be ignored – a fact that seemed to have him on edge. She hoped his plan failed so he'd leave. Or maybe she could publicly denounce him and have him leave in disgrace, or perhaps have Sesshomaru kill him, since Adisa had said that Sesshomaru was hunting Naraku prior to tonight. She hadn't had much of an appetite, toying with her rice and smiling at Rin's stories.

One thing had intrigued her, however. She hadn't seen hide nor hair of Honoka. She knew better than to ask Rin with Naraku constantly hovering nearby, and Sesshomaru didn't seem particularly eager to chat with her. Still, it had her curious.

She had dwindled about with a few of the other nobles for the day, reminding herself not to fidget and to focus on what Lord So-and-so was saying about his tax system. She smiled politely, but honestly couldn't keep her mind in the same room, let alone in the same conversation. Rin had saved her, asking her to come to the garden. Naraku was content to remain, so she let him, following the girl outside despite the open derision of the assembled nobles.

As it turned out, her kind of nobles were outside in the garden. They were sparring with the practice weapons Sesshomaru's servants had brought out, a small group of lords having a tournament to pass the time. Rin pulled her by the hand to meet one, who seemed to be expecting the girl's return. Lixue had abandoned the endeavor of trying to keep her hem clean in their mad dash through the halls, her cheeks flush as she bowed in greeting to the laughing lord.

"So, milady, you're the one causing all the ruckus amongst the womenfolk." He gestured to a set of blunted swords near his hip. "If even half of them are true, I'd like to test myself against your swordsmanship, if I may be so bold."

She smiled. "You may. I'm so bored I could cry."

Rin grinned. "I knew you would, Li-san!"

It had been the ensuing brisk sparring that had muddied her outfit to the point of needing a change of clothes. Naraku had been livid at her lack of decorum, warning her that if she did anything more to ruin his chances, she would 'face the consequences.' He couldn't say outright what he would do, but they both knew. She bristled but could only obey.

oOxXxOo

That evening after dinner, several of the more noble nobility had retired to smoke, inviting a pleased Naraku to join them. Since she did not partake, Lixue was more than happy to free herself from their company, pretending not to notice Naraku's pointed glare.

Lixue tucked her hands into her sleeves, needing a little more effort than usual to keep her steps on the stone walkway through the edges of the grounds. She had partaken of a rather copious amount of rice wine on a dare, and was ever so slightly tipsy. She had been bested, but she wasn't too upset about it since she had absolutely destroyed them in the ring earlier. She smiled to herself and kept walking, the night air cool on her warmed cheeks.

She wandered out of the gate, knowing perfectly well where she was going. The moon was nearly full, pouring its serene light in thick pools around the gray tiger. Lixue felt something stirring in her throat, and she paused, changing her course from the lilies to somewhere much fainter in her memory.

Lixue traced her hand along the edge of the silent stone wall, following its curves until she found what she was looking for: the thin wedge of cliffs that overlooked the dark and gently winking sea.

This strip of land was important to her too, like the lilies were, but whenever she would try and recall its importance, her mind would slip to one side or the other of her thoughts. That stirring on her tongue grew more insistent, and she lifted her chin to gaze at the moon, sitting roughly on the grass near the edge of the cliff.

_Sing with me._

She curled her tongue and crooned the tune she didn't know that she knew. She wrinkled her nose, feeling that it was off. She focused her alcohol-addled throat and tried it again, drawing out the notes where it felt right, jumping when her voice was joined by a man's rich baritone. She turned, finding Sesshomaru's form standing near the edge of the wall. She blinked, unsure of what she had heard.

She turned again to the water and tried the notes again, bewildered when the dog hummed quietly in time. In harmony. He approached her, a complete change of character from his behavior the entire day before. She wondered if it were another of Naraku's tricks or even one of Sesshomaru's own design, bracing herself for anything.

He stood behind her, the moonlight (or perhaps the music?) softening his hard expression. She twisted and looked up at him, the rice wine numbing her hurt and anxiety from the deception and only leaving her happiness at seeing him again.

That didn't mean that she would recognize it for what it was though.

She stood, wobbling to her feet and clumsily brushing the grass from her rear. He regarded her with what seemed to be aloof curiosity. He was the first to speak.

"This Sesshomaru did not think you remembered the song." He reached out a hand to steady her.

He was acting so… genuine. The tigress looked carefully into his eyes, and beyond the obvious irritation that she was staring at him like that, she thought she could see emotions. Hurt… and hope.

_This wine is amazing. Or… maybe it was the tune? _

She closed her eyes and recollected all that she could. "We sang it together, didn't we?"

He exhaled, and she breathed in the surprising comfort of ginger, yellow lotus, and sun-warmed fur. "We did."

"I can't… remember." Her answer seemed to disappoint him, as he stepped back from her. She opened her eyes and found the irritation foremost in his face.

"Why can't you?" he demanded quietly.

"I don't know, Sesshomaru. Everything that has to do with you is hard to remember." Her face fell.

He turned to face the water, leaving her facing his shoulder. "You are mating with Naraku."

She didn't answer.

"Why?"

"I didn't think you cared." She furrowed her brow. "Why does it matter?"

"I… he's not good enough for you." He grumbled.

"I heard that you were hunting him, Sesshomaru. Don't pretend it's because you care about me."

Sesshomaru growled, turning to face her once more.

She clenched her fists, the wine's influence making her say things she did not mean. "I know you don't. If you did, you wouldn't have left me alone for all those years after papa died! You wouldn't have planned for a mate and not even see fit to tell me about her coming! You wouldn't have let her attack me and you wouldn't have sent me away!"

His growl escalated, and she could smell the poison pooling in his mouth from his anger. A part of her told her to back down before she blew everything, but there was far too much alcohol in her ears to let her hear.

"You left on your own. It's none of your business whether I am to be mated or not, especially not when you come into my home bearing the scent of my enemy. I should kill you for that insult alone!" He closed the distance between them, glaring down at the defiant tigress. "Honoka was banished from my lands for her actions against you. Do not presume to tell me that I chose her over you when you do that very same thing to me!"

"What makes you think I'd choose Naraku?!" She hissed between her teeth. Sesshomaru's eyes widened and he stepped away. "He threatened me with Rin's life! I smell like him because he essentially _raped me!_" Lixue realized too late that she had given too much away, and clapped her hands over her mouth.

Sesshomaru moved too swiftly for her to see, and she squeaked when he grabbed her hands with his own.

With the taste of poison and wine, the dog kissed the tiger.

**A/N: Please review!**


	22. Where Your Heart Is, There am I Also

_Chapter Twenty Two: Where your Heart Is, There am I Also_

**A/N: First of all, you have no idea how happy I was to have two non-regulars review, let alone within 24 hours of posting the last chapter – has to be a new record! Also, a shoutout to my girls Xenon Shield and Graceful-Kuja, who review every chapter and often get teased the most with what will happen in future chapters ;P If not for you two, I would have lost my confidence and stopped writing this story. There is more news: I have put information and links about this story on my profile page, including Lixue's 'official' theme music and projections for the story. Onward! Let us revel in Lixue's horrible ability to read body language!**

Sesshomaru's scent pervaded her nostrils, his bitter poison numbing her lips to the softness of his and nothing but white in her vision.

Lixue's breath caught in her throat and she felt her heart stumble.

Sesshomaru pulled away, his tawny eyes searching her face for hints of desire, but found only silvered shock. She blinked twice, recovering her sense of place, and he spied the first pangs of panic in her face. She attempted to bolt, but Sesshomaru was prepared this time – he held on to her wrist, preventing her escape. She leapt, but finding herself anchored, began streaming words from her mouth while attempting to pry away from his iron grip.

"_No_ Sesshomaru, please, he'll see and Rin will be stung," she attempted to flee again with the same result, "it was a mistake to come out here, if he doesn't kill Rin he'll rape her I swear, I'm a _tiger, _your reputation will be tarnished, I can't _stay and let go Sesshomaru Naraku will see—_"

"Lixue."

That voice stopped her _every damn time._

She closed her eyes and froze, panting slightly and leaning out as far as she could from Sesshomaru, legs stiff and spread, heels digging furrows into the grass and churning up small hills of dirt. "What?"

"The concoction Naraku placed inside of Rin's body has run its course. She is in no danger." He released the tiger's wrist. Lixue stumbled slightly and straightened, rubbing her wrist out of reflex rather than injury but remaining standing at arm's length from the inuyoukai. She eyed his swords as he closed the distance again, but did not retreat.

She could feel his breath on her collarbone.

It was _distracting. _

"You knew about it?" Lixue knew he was waiting for her to lift her head, but she found herself admiring how very shiny the silver on his chest plate was, despite its age. _Don't think about the mokomoko. Or… oh, sleeping with it. No, bad. Armor. Concentrate on the armor. Not the kiss. Shit._

"This Sesshomaru could not be tricked by the likes of Naraku." She could see the tension in his fist, and it occurred to her that her attempt to flee might have been seen as rejection; the idea seemed to squeeze her heart too tightly. "The only reason he still draws breath is because he claimed you for protection."

Lixue stared at his fist, forgetting to respond with her intensity. Hesitantly, Lixue offered a small touch on the back of his hand. _I didn't mean to run. _

He released his fist and lifted his hand for her. She ghosted the tips of her fingers along the warmth of his skin, wondering when the last time it had been that she had touched him so familiarly. When anyone had.

Sesshomaru exhaled unusually gracelessly, as though he had been holding his breath without meaning to. "Does Naraku have any claim to you?"

Lixue frowned. "No. I would consider it a great favor for him to be killed."

Sesshomaru shifted his weight. "You would not want to kill him yourself?"

She shook her head vigorously, gripping his wrist more tightly than necessary. "He… I don't want to see him again unless it's his head in a bag. He _sees_ me. Right into my soul." She realized that she smelled blood and released Sesshomaru's wrist, licking the beads of blood from where they surfaced in typical tiger apology. He seemed extraordinarily careful not to move – or breathe, for that matter – while her mouth was near the inside of his wrist. Thinking nothing of it, she dropped his hand as a precaution against further mauling before lifting her eyes to his face.

Sesshomaru's eyes were clenched shut, an unusual tension in his jaw. _Did I hurt him very badly? Or maybe it's insulting to lick another's wounds for a dog? _

"I'm sorry if I insulted you, Sesshomaru, that's how tigers apologize."

His eyes opened, though he did not look in her face. "It's not that. Licking is… very personal for us."

"Oh." She sat down abruptly, Sesshomaru staring at her as she toyed with the grass. "What are we going to do about Naraku? You can't just attack him without reason, and if you take the time to explain it, he could get away. I'm surprised you haven't challenged him yet, with his sullying of your honor…"

"He is here at my pleasure. They all are." He eased himself onto the grass beside her, close enough for her to feel his heat.

_Distracting._

"So why did you wait?" Her lips still tingled from the poison in his kiss, the only proof that such a thing had happened. She surreptitiously touched her lips with her fingers, missing his answer with the memory.

She refocused to see him looking at her, and she quickly dropped her hand.

"Do you require me to repeat myself?"

"Uh. Yeah."

"Hnn. You will continue to act as though he is under your protection."

Lixue bared her fangs for only the smallest moment. "Why should I do that? Won't he smell you on me?"

"His sense of smell does not seem to be one of his strengths. If you should drink some tea and change out of that," he indicated her muddied hem, "he will have no reason to believe you have revealed him."

"Well, assuming that you're right, how long do I have to keep pretending? He expects me to share his bed tonight." Lixue clenched her teeth against the thought, rubbing her arms to keep down the sudden prickling of her skin.

"You will know." He began to stand, his warmth leaving too soon after the thought of allowing Naraku near her again. She stood with him, the errant breeze brushing the tips of his shining hair against her hand. She lifted her claws, the cool silken hairs weaving their way free with ease. She allowed them to escape, a great tiredness coming over her.

"Why do you trust me?" She whispered. "I wouldn't even trust me."

Sesshomaru did not respond, watching how she held her claws in the moonlight. The tiger's sadness and grief trapped her, and even in freedom she would carry her cage, shadows striping on her fur in the moonlight… stripes of such number to turn the silvered tiger black.

Lixue's vision turned outward once more as Sesshomaru placed something in her outstretched claws. She lifted it closer, its muted luster nearly as perfect as it had been centuries ago. Formed from perfect metal, only marred by thin scars across its petals, her silver lily lie peacefully in her palm. Her fingers closed instinctively over it, feeling Sesshomaru's warmth.

"You… kept it?" She opened her fingers again, its realism so that she feared crushing the flower's beauty. "I thought I had lost it."

"I found it after you had left with your father. I hoped to return it to you when you returned, but you never did."

"You've kept it with you for two hundred… years?" Lixue tried to find his face, but he had turned it to the moon.

"Two hundred and fifty eight."

"Sess—" Lixue's words dropped into silence, and Sesshomaru glanced at her face to see her listening intently, staring into the darkness beyond the castle. Trusting in her sense of hearing, he turned to face her focus, and began to scent the air. At crosswinds with the scent, he did not hesitate to follow Lixue when she bolted toward the sound.

Lixue ran, tucking the lily safely inside of her hanfu and tying it shut. Sesshomaru's footsteps remained close by for only a few moments before he caught the scents and surged ahead. Bounding onto the castle wall, she raced to be the first there instead of the fifty or so taiyoukai within the castle. The guards, also attracted to the noise, were passed by in her attempt to catch up to Sesshomaru and the idiots attacking his home.

_Fuck. _Another blast of demonic energy radiated toward the castle's gate, nearly off of its hinges, in what was a very singular shout. _Inuyasha has impeccable timing._

Seizing a sword from a chunk of demon unlucky enough to be caught in the Wind Scar, Lixue bounded into the fray. Sesshomaru had engaged his half-brother, eliciting accusations of working with Naraku, and the rest of Inuyasha's group had been attacked by the castle guard and the few guests of Sesshomaru who were near enough to react. Kagome and Shippou, astride Kirara, dodged the vicious strikes of a cobra, the cat's claws sparking across the reptile's scales. Miroku and Sango had dispatched their quarry and were in the process of finding another as Lixue dropped before them. She held the borrowed blade before her, trying not to think about how the last time she had seen them, she had died.

"What are you doing?" She demanded, a question that seemed to be even more unbalancing than her appearance. The demon who had bested her in the drinking contest earlier that night, a blood stag with a jagged shell, rallied next to her with a mighty stamp of his hooves. He lowered his head, presenting his bouquet of horns as a threat and snorting.

"You are working with Naraku!" Miroku clutched the beads around his wind tunnel, projecting his intentions. "If I suck you in my wind tunnel, you won't come back again, I guarantee it!"

"Fool." She thrust her sword into the ground, the stag sparing her a curious glance. She held her hands up, projecting her voice in hopes of being heard. "I was a fool for thinking that Naraku wanted political power! He lured you here, hoping we'd kill each other and be out of his way!" She turned her back on Miroku and Sango, who had not relaxed but was listening at least; the fighting had paused, save for the brothers. Their weapons clashed, Sesshomaru staying between Inuyasha and the castle, leaping and attacking and defending.

Lixue found Kagome and asked with her eyes, trusting that the girl would know.

Kagome did not disappoint.

"Inuyasha, SIT BOY!"

The hanyou yelled as he was forcibly planted into the ground, dust billowing and his protests buried.

Sesshomaru stared at Lixue and the undertone of urgency confused her. She turned to her audience, summoning her conqueror's commanding aura. "This is a trick! This is Sesshomaru's home. If you want Naraku, he's inside." Then Sesshomaru's point made itself known, and her stomach fell. "And so is Rin."

Sesshomaru could not leave, not with Inuyasha threatening to destroy the castle with Rin inside. Lixue whirled on her heel, grabbing the borrowed weapon on her way and nearly tripping on the debris of the gate. The fighters broke up behind her to follow, some unsure of what was happening but desiring to be part of the action.

Lixue did not waste time with going through the castle and jumped onto the castle itself, extending her claws to dig into the walls and catapult herself higher. She grasped the edge of the window of Rin's room and pulled herself in, finding with a panic that her room was empty. Lixue cursed and attempted to follow the scent, the girl's trail leaving the room and branching into the hallway – but _which one_ was most recent?!

She found the barest hint of tears and followed it, deep into the castle's heart and through the other side, finding herself in the training yard. She sprinted across it, the dirt crunching under her bare feet in the near darkness toward the sound of whimpering. She rounded the edge of the armory and ducked, the whistle of a weapon whining through the air where her throat had been only a moment before. She rolled out of the way, brandishing her own sword before she regained her ground, turning to face her opponent.

Adisa sighed with relief and sheathed his sword, Rin clutching the back of his pants for protection. Lixue could not sheathe her sword, simply dropping its point to the ground and smiling at her faithful hyena as Rin ran for Lixue, crying her name.

"Well done, Adisa." She commended him glowingly, and he smiled in return.

"I was on my way to Lady Rin's room to fetch her for something we had planned when I felt that something was off. I hurried to her quarters and she was attempting to flee from a large wasp; I killed it and fled with her. We were nearly here when Lord Inuyasha attacked the gate."

"You sure are feeling formal lately. Did you see Naraku?" She stroked Rin's hair, turning to listen to the castle – it had become almost eerily quiet. It unsettled her, and if she had been in her true form, it would have set her whiskers to trembling. She gestured to Adisa to take Rin, preparing to return to the castle, but the girl would not release the tigress' hanfu.

"Rin, please, I must go help Lord Sesshomaru." She attempted to reason with Rin, who sniffed and nodded.

"Please be careful, Li-san!"

"I will, cub." She felt the small hands release from her clothing and she bounded back to the castle, turning course to follow sudden shouting near the garden.

Lixue gripped the pommel of the sword more tightly, dread gripping her stomach in a cold coil – she forced her mind away from the memory of helplessness and waxen tentacles – she vaulted over the wall, more meant to keep humans away than demons, landing softly in the hydrangeas with a cloud of white petals. She rolled forward and sprang to her feet, cursing as she felt her ankles become entangled in that unmistakable grip.

Naraku's tentacle snapped up behind her, the ambushed tigress slammed into the ground and losing grip of her weapon before being lifted into the air. Lixue twisted in the air, imbuing her claws with fire before slicing the tentacle like old meat. Clumps of fetid flesh fell and she was freed, turning her fall into a handspring away from her enemy and sliding to a halt. Naraku chuckled at her audacity.

Sesshomaru appeared without a sound on the opposite end of the garden, closing the distance between himself and Naraku in the space of a breath and separating the spider from the tentacles nearest him – Naraku's body split under Sesshomaru's sword, and the hanyou laughed as it crumbled into clumps of dried clay.

Lixue yelped as another Naraku lurched out of the ground beneath her, dozens of Narakus buried in the soil forcing their way to the surface. The dirt seemed to boil with agitation as the carefully landscaped garden was shredded in their appearance. Lixue thrust her claws into its neck and decapitated the one beneath her, only to find herself being mobbed by three others. Naraku's saimyosho swarmed into the garden, Sesshomaru's guests hanging on the edges of the battle, unsure as to what was happening. Inuyasha's group burst through the lines of nobility and joined the fray, most familiar with this foe's form.

Naraku spoke to the tigress as they fought, every puppet's mouth forming the words, their battle for everyone to listen. She tore through the tentacles as quickly as she could, finding herself nearly entombed in discarded and burning flesh.

"Do you believe you're safe now, Lixue? Here with your precious dog?" The clay intoned, a ripple of threat in Naraku's voice. Her heart was cold as she blazed in battle, instinctually aware that she would never escape the shame he was about to reveal. No matter how quickly she destroyed the puppets, there were too many voices, too many ears.

"Did you tell him how you cried when I took your innocence from you?" The tigress could not get rid of them, the voice echoing in her ears and the gasps. Such shock. Such venom.

"SHUT UP!" Lixue screamed, her voice drowned by the droning of the wasp wings and his layered laughter. Her vision bled red, salivating fire and twisting in the air to deliver an inferno with her heel into the smiling face. _It's not enough_.

She turned to face the next demon puppet, only to see it explode in a flash of sickly yellow light – Sesshomaru drew the whip into the air and suddenly he was beside her, dispatching another heap of hateful dirt and poison with his Tokijin. She shut her eyes, wiping the fire from her skin and attempting to regain control of her situation.

Just as suddenly as it had begun, the battle was over, bits of insect and clay littering the once-manicured grass of the garden and the remaining saimyosho retreating into the ink of the night. Sesshomaru stood next to her, sheathing his sword and facing the others, but she drew comfort from his presence. She opened her eyes, and all she found in the faces of the gathered was shock and confusion. Pity. She bristled.

_I do not desire your pity._

Lixue lifted her head and whistled for Adisa, his answering whistle carried well by the wind, and only moments later he appeared over the wall, Rin in his arms. He carried her to the demons, wisely whispering to the girl to keep quiet as he set her down. She complied, holding the hyena's hand in an expression of trust. It was important for Sesshomaru to see her, know that Lixue had ensured her safety. Adisa knew that, but he could smell the dog's anger. What had happened? He looked to his mistress for comfort, but the dog's anger was mirrored in her and he found none.

Lixue only watched as the brothers exchanged words, Sesshomaru's patience thin. She refocused when Inuyasha pointed at her.

"—and what's she here for? She's supposed to be dead! This reeks of Naraku!"

Sesshomaru stepped between Inuyasha's accusing finger and Lixue. "She is none of your concern."

Kagome spoke up. "Inuyasha, I don't sense any jewel shards."

Lixue faded out again as his friends surmised Tenseiga's influence, watching the faces of the nobility. She was reminded of jackals, so intently did they watch. _If this doesn't stop now, the West will be seen as weakened with this infighting. Sesshomaru will be forced to put Inuyasha down to maintain his standing, but Inuyasha has the Tessaiga and is hard enough to kill on his own, let alone with his friends nearby. _

She looked at the friends in question, and her eyes fell on Kagome, who was clutching the fox kid to her chest with a look of sadness on her face. _Why does she feel sorrow? Do they not all desire to attack Sesshomaru? _Lixue searched the other faces of the monk and the slayer, finding no hint of malice. _This is interesting._

Lixue stepped out from behind Sesshomaru, drawing the attention of the brothers as she walked toward Kagome. Inuyasha snarled at her and pushed in front of her, and the tigress stopped.

"Where do you think _you're_ going?" Inuyasha thrust the Tessaiga before him, defensive.

"Mind your manners, _half-breed._" Sesshomaru hissed.

"Kagome." Lixue did not take her eyes from Inuyasha's. _They share the same eyes, but his are so much more open. He does not hide his heart. _

"Uh, yeah?" Kagome answered, popping her head out from behind Inuyasha's shoulder.

"You and your friends have traveled far, and it is dark. Please, stay here tonight, and leave in the morning."

Lixue's offer seemed to send a short wave of shock through the group, but Kagome's agreement seemed to surprise her friends even more so. Inuyasha recovered first, forgetting to acknowledge the demoness as he turned to argue with her.

"Why are ya trusting _her_ for?"

Sesshomaru, who had not given a reaction, seemed to understand Lixue's intent and remained silent.

"Well, I kind of… have already?" Kagome sheepishly replied. "I spent the night in a cave with her and Rin before I went home, and I guess I forgot to mention it…"

"You just _forgot_ to mention it?!"

"It's okay, Koga took me the rest of the way in the morning!" She held up her hands in defense, but this did not seem to be what the hanyou wanted to hear.

"That mangy wolf was there too? What else did you _forget_ to tell me?"

They descended into full-blown bickering, and Miroku and Sango approached Lixue. Miroku bowed to her and thanked her for the hospitality, Sango adding her agreement.

"You shouldn't be thanking me, really," Lixue mentioned, looking over her shoulder at the silent taiyoukai. "This is Sesshomaru's home, and you would do well to be respectful while you are here." She faced the pair again, with a slight smile. "Of course, it is not you two who would cause an issue, I am certain."

Her smile, though small, seemed to unsettle them, but they agreed without argument, promising to help keep Inuyasha in line, giving each other meaningful glances that she did not understand.

Lixue thanked them. "I would suggest that you start now." She glanced at the still-bickering teenagers, unsure how to proceed.

Sesshomaru spoke, coming to her proverbial rescue as he directed his orders to a servant. "You will show them to rooms in the east wing." The servant bowed, and after Kagome silenced Inuyasha with a string of 'sit's, the odd group followed the mouse to their lodgings for the night. The drama over, the watchful youkai dispersed, some recounting the battle excitedly, others lamenting the possible cancellation of the party, but all whispering of Naraku's deception and shaming of the tigress.

Rin, sleepy and safe, was spirited away to her bedroom in the arms of Adisa. Jaken's voice could be clearly heard in the nighttime stillness as he oversaw repairs of the gate. Sesshomaru and Lixue stood alone in the mangled garden.

"You were trying to save face for me." Sesshomaru broke the semi-silence first. "It was unnecessary."

"Maybe for now, but the rumors that the West is weakened by infighting would have only grown with so many eyewitnesses. Some would have come seeking your lands, and you would have been much busier than you are now. Trust me, this sort of thing was my father's job." She sighed, leaning against an overturned tree. "I can't believe I didn't see it coming. Naraku, I mean. I thought that the deception was that he and I were 'entangled,' not that the deception was a deception… man, thinking like he does must take all of his time."

"Hnn." Sesshomaru held his hand to the tigress. "Come."

"Where are we going?" Lixue took his hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet.

"Come."

_Was he always this vague and evasive? …Probably. _

He released her hand and led her through the garden, and she soon guessed where they were headed. A small fort they had dug together as children, hidden beside the fountain. He pulled aside the rock covering the entrance, watching her and waiting for her to enter. She ducked her head and disappeared inside.

She crouched through the tunnel, once big enough for her to run through at full speed, holding her hair out of her face and hearing Sesshomaru close the rock behind them, shutting them into darkness. It was simply how they had entered before when this was the norm, but somehow it was different now to be alone with Sesshomaru in the dark.

She came to the end of the burrowed tunnel, and found that it had widened considerably. She straightened, covering her mouth in wonder as she lifted her eyes to the ceiling.

The entire roof of their private den had been lit with a softly glowing golden light, as though fireflies slept in the rock, illuminating the carpet of crystalline lilies between their petals. Hundreds of Sesshomaru's lilies, carved as the one she had tucked in her hanfu, etched into existence by patient demon claws from precious materials.

"I wanted to show you when you arrived." Sesshomaru rumbled behind her.

"It's gorgeous, Sesshomaru," she breathed. "When… did you do this?"

"After… Honoka." He replied. "I think you need it now."

She didn't answer, but turned to look at him questioningly.

"I did not know that Naraku…" he broke off, and looked at her. "He will pay dearly."

"But I told you earlier, didn't you hear me?" She queried, reaching up to touch the immortal flowers.

"I can smell your sadness, Lixue." He watched her. "Why are you so calm?"

"_You're_ always calm," she pointed out, watching the way the light filtered through a lily that seemed to be made of emerald. "Yes, he violated me, yes, he took my purity. He took something sacred and private, dirtied it and made it a public spectacle. I will always carry his scars from that day." Her voice began to waver, and she paused to compose it. "But my father always said that if you can't change it, don't be upset about it. If you can do something, do it. 'Tears are only wetness and no comfort at all.'"

He smelled the saltiness before he found the silent drop reflecting on her cheek. She dropped her head. "I guess I didn't listen to him very well."

Sesshomaru approached the unresponsive tigress, so deep was she in self-loathing and shame. He brushed his hand along her hip where the lily nestled. "Do you remember what I said when I gave that to you?"

She chuckled, an odd and stilted sound. "As I recall, you thrust it at me and ran."

He growled softly. "I did not run. You did."

"Oh, right. I ran. Guess some things don't change much with age."

"I found you after you had been summoned by your father to court. You ran then too." He paused for her weak snort. "You were far from the grounds, in the boughs of the old magnolia tree."

She searched her brain for more than faint phantoms of memory, blurred metaphysical shapes and snippets of words. _Why can I remember everything else so clearly?_

"I… I can't remember," she moaned. "Everything that has to do with you is there, I know it, but it's so hard to _see_."

Sesshomaru watched the trembling creature. "You were afraid to return to the continent because your father was going to begin grooming you to be as he was. You did not want to disappoint him, to cause his death through a blunder and be left alone."

Lixue smiled with ire. "I'm alone now anyway."

Sesshomaru did not return her smile. "I am here."

She slipped her hand between her hanfu and her underclothes, pulling the silver lily free. She grasped it delicately by the stem, the mirrored hues of the translucent lilies spotting its surface.

"You are, aren't you."

_How bold the spring tree; blossoms remember winter, yet bloom as though gods._

oOxXxOo

Lixue had not slept since the first night in Naraku's castle, the residual suspicion keeping her heart elevated even when she had retired to her bedroom. Even though she had moved her belongings from the room she had shared with Naraku, his scent still lingered on her. She only found rest with her back against the wall bordering Sesshomaru's room from hers, listening to the dog's faint breathing until it lulled her into sleep.

oOxXxOo

Dawn came too quickly. Lixue, still gripped by the delusions of her unconscious mind, dug her claws into the hand nudging her awake, bringing her other claw to her shoulder for the decapitating strike before opening her eyes to find that it was only Adisa. She released him with a murmured apology, and the visibly shaken hyena accepted it without complaint.

"My lady, I believe that your presence will be necessary once Lord Inuyasha and his friends awaken," Adisa handed her a heavy package, wrapped in thick oilcloth. "This arrived yesterday for you."

She unwrapped the cloth carefully, and Adisa smiled at the spark of light in his mistress' eyes.

"I took the liberty of commissioning an armorsmith in the area to forge a suitable suit for you," he explained. "There seems to be a shortage of demon smiths in the mainland."

She lifted the armor carefully to admire it more closely as he continued. "I used funds from the treasury to commission it, as you had discarded your human-made armor on the trip home. I hope you do not mind that I kept the look, but I made a few changes to the design to better fit you."

"My thanks, Adisa. I will be able to handle this on my own, for once." She smiled. "Please wait for me outside."

Adisa had been very thorough in his measurements; the Japanese flair on the Chinese design was unexpectedly tasteful, with a far more feminine silhouette and a whisper of power in its scaled metal. She scented hints of fire-rat fur in every part of the armor, no doubt the foresight of Adisa – he had probably sent a few pelts of the native Chinese youkai along with the instructions for the fitting of its fire-prone tigress inhabitant. The soft cloth for use under the armor was, except for its lack of shine, nearly identical to silk.

Fully armored, she lifted a remaining length of cloth from the package, unsure of its use. She called Adisa in from the hallway. "What's this?"

He took it from his mistress' fingers and wrapped it about her shoulders, hooking it through special fittings under her shoulder-plates and draping it like a shawl, an end of the cloth trailing down one side of her back.

"This can be lifted to be a hood," he explained, picking up the folds behind and draping it about her head. "And while this is mostly for aesthetic appeal, you can also wrap this around your face for a mask." He indicated the long strip of cloth on her shoulder. "You don't like capes, so I felt that this was an acceptable indicator of your status."

"Right. My status."

"Now, my lady, I believe that your time is running short to intercept them," Adisa ushered her to the door.

"Oh, wait," she doubled back, shuffling about in her discarded hanfu for her lily. She pried the chestplate away from her body and wrapped its lining around the stem, the lily's face peeking out above her heart. She smiled. "Okay, let's go."

oOxXxOo

Lixue knocked gently on the frame of the door that housed Sango and Kagome, stepping back and listening to the rustling of sheets. Kagome's sleepy face answered, the girl rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"M'yeah?"

"It is morning. Did you and your companions rest well?" Lixue asked, armor clinking as she crossed her arms.

"Who is it, Kagome?" Sango's voice called behind her.

Kagome turned her head to speak over her shoulder. "It's Lixue."

Adisa spoke up. "In the interest of image, please refer to her as 'Lady Xing.'"

"Oh, Adisa, it's you." Kagome noticed the hyena, and at the mention of his name, an audible 'thump' could be heard in the room behind her as Sango dropped her Hiraikotsu. "I see you were able to find her."

"You've met?" Lixue eyed her vassal, who smiled sheepishly.

"Just the once, milady." He replied.

"Hmm." She turned her attention back to Kagome. "I do not believe that breakfast in the main hall would be a good idea, with a miko, monk, demon slayer and two brothers at each other's throats in the presence of fifty or so youkai of note," she counted off on her fingers. "I suggest either eating in the comfort of your rooms, the gardens, or I can have some food packed up for you to take with you if you are itching to leave immediately."

"You can do that?" Sango's face appeared beside Kagome's, who opened the door slightly further. "I thought this was Sesshomaru's castle."

"It is," Lixue conceded, "but I'm sure he would rather that I do this than he."

"Well, I'll ask the others, then." Kagome smiled and thanked her.

"Just let Adisa know what you would like. Farewell," Lixue indicated the hyena, noticing with puzzlement that he was inspecting his feet instead of looking ahead, but dismissing it as another of his quirks and breezing away toward the main tower.

oOxXxOo

Lixue gripped her teeth tighter, trying to ignore the whispers and accusing eyes from those who did not know she could hear them. She poked at her omelet, Sesshomaru glancing her way from time to time when she would grip her chopsticks too tightly; she forced her hands to relax. The soft-handed women spoke most venomously.

"_I don't know why his Lordship allows her to dress so inappropriately,_" the worst of them, a beautifully-scaled koi youkai in swathes of pearly silk, whispered to either side. "_Of course, it's only to be expected from one such as her, I suppose. Very thin bloodline, and just as much of a whore as her mother, sleeping with a filthy hanyou._"

Lixue snapped her chopsticks in two and glared at the demoness, the clatter drawing the attention of the entire table. The koi's mouth snapped shut, eyes bulging at the idea that she was heard above the murmur of conversation across the table between them. She composed herself and primly began eating her breakfast. Lixue forced her jaw to relax and accepted the replacement chopsticks presented by a lady-in-waiting with a nod of her head in thanks.

She didn't look at Sesshomaru.

"So, Lady Xing," the stag rumbled from next to her. "Tell me, since your relationship with that Naraku character was clearly fabricated, does that mean you're available?"

The attention turned to their conversation, Lixue found herself compelled to answer loudly enough to be heard by the entire table. "I have no mate." She stated flatly.

"Ah, good news then," he laughed. "I have to admit, I'm impressed by your combat ability. Not many women can beat myself in hand-to-hand." He knocked on his skull. "Hard head, you know."

"I mean this inoffensively, Lady Xing," a soft-eyed boar demoness spoke from across the table, "but you have no living family. Do you bring a dowry to your mate?"

"_My_ dowry is most impressive," a she-wolf boasted. "My father's lands span across the finest coasts in the East, and our gems are unequaled. Eight trunks of the most expensive kimono and silks."

"Yes, that's very impressive," the stag responded. "But doesn't silk come from China?"

"Yes, Lady Xing, Lord Minami makes a good point. Do _you_ bring any silk for your mate?" the she-wolf gave a prideful smile.

"Well," Lixue counted on her fingers. "Six silkworm villages reside near my castle…" she drifted off, and the she-wolf gave a derisive snort.

"Do you really believe that any male of note would desire you with only—"

"Give her a moment," Lord Minami cut off the wolf's remark.

"I suppose my dowry is… All of Southeast China," Lixue shrugged, half-smiling at the stunned faces around her, others smiling at her silencing of the boastful princess.

"As you said, I have no living family. My dowry is not handed to me by my father's sweat, but territory rightfully earned by my own blood." She was only partially successful in keeping her irritation from her voice, Lord Minami beaming at her. "I bring the dowry of four provinces, the size of Japan, carved out from the hands of demon and human alike and claimed by fire. When you have the ability to do as I have, to take my lands from the Silver Fang, then you can speak down to me, _but not before_."

She glared at the others at the table, forcing those who had whispered of her to avert their eyes from hers. She asserted her dominance over them in the basest way possible, inadvertently shifting the balance of power between the lords gathered. Those who had the good sense to keep their tongues civil toward the tigress were not confronted, and in fact seemed to enjoy the brazen yaoguai's challenge.

Sesshomaru watched her, intrigued at the sudden interest that the other males had taken in the tigress. In the space of a minute, she had gone from impure scraps to a creature greatly desired. Lord Minami bellowed his laughter, interrupting the inuyoukai's thoughts.

"I was right about you, Lady Xing!" He slapped his stomach as he laughed. "I felt it when we sparred, and I heard it when you stepped in last night. You're a hellcat, alright! You'd better pick your man carefully, because you'll make one hell of a mate."

Lixue smiled and dropped her eyes, fingers finding the edges of the silver lily on her chest.

_Leaves brush against her, pleading sweetly to her heart. Please remember me._

oOxXxOo

"I see you've been keeping up your poetry, my lady," Adisa thumbed through the scrolls, blotted and lined with snippets of haiku. "But I cannot help but think that war strategies would be best kept separate."

"Never mind that, pest," she chided goodheartedly. "I thought of a way to keep archers off of the north slopes near the castle. Doesn't that excite you?"

"Not when I must scrub ink from your sleeves, milady. Please try to keep this one clean until after the dance, would you?" He groaned.

She grumbled, but nodded. Rin bounced nearby, playing with the sheet of silk that Lixue's outfit had been wrapped in, folding it to catch the wind as she pretended to fly. Adisa left the scrolls alone, coming over to help the tigress with her hair.

"Oh, I forgot," she exclaimed, startling the hyena into dropping a pin. She handed it to him as she continued. "What happened with Inuyasha and his friends?"

"Lord Inuyasha and his companions left during your spectacle during the morning meal," he replied, disapproval dripping from his words.

"Stop calling him Lord, Adisa," she laughed. "Sure, his father was a lord and so is his brother, but technically he doesn't have any land."

"Respectfully, my lady," Adisa held her shoulder to keep her from fidgeting, "he inherits the title from his father, land or no. The lines of peerage are unclear when it comes to those of half-blood, but this one will respectfully assume along the lines of caution and refer to him as Lord."

"Huh," came the graceless reply. "Hey, since I earned my title myself and not from my father, if I have a long-lost brother or sister or something, would they have a title too or just me?"

"I would prefer to not be referred to as 'hey,' my lady," he chuckled drily, twisting her unruly hair into a delicate updo and pinning it in place. "I suppose it would depend on if said metaphorical sibling were from your mother or father's bloodline."

"Oh." She plucked at the front of her clothing, prompting Adisa to gently slap her hand away.

"I swear, my lady, if I did not know that you were beyond five centuries of age, I would believe you to be a child. Please stand still for your dressing!"

Lixue sighed, but stood still.

_She dressed in starlight. He kissed her, bright as the dew. "I'd love you in rags."_

**A/N: Next week: the big dance! This was a big chapter, with over 6500 words, so you'd better review. …Please.**


	23. Just so I Know My Heart Still Beats

_Chapter Twenty Three: Just so I Know My Heart Still Beats_

**A/N: Woo, you guys really came out of the woodwork for the last chapter! Four reviews in 24 hours of uploading! You're crazy. No, really. You are. (But I love you.) Also, go look up "book cover" by phoenixlu on deviantart if you want to see Lixue's outfit! (Note: I do not have any claim to it.) This is a few days (read: a week) late because I had a severe case of writer's block over two pretty much insignificant paragraphs. Then a few more. Onward!**

Lixue swished her hips experimentally for her reflection. "I have no idea how they make it look so easy," she grumbled, and Adisa looked up from the game of marbles he was playing with Rin. The small girl cheered as she claimed her victory.

"What, my lady?" He inquired as he handed over the spoils, a section of dried fruit that the girl ran up and down her nose before devouring it.

"Being swishy." The tiger replied. "I love the pattern, and the color, but it makes me feel like I should be more graceful. Like maybe I don't deserve to wear it if I won't wear it right."

"Lady Xing, none would dare say that you are anything other than graceful," Adisa lined up his shot. "You are, after all, a cat."

"Do you mean they wouldn't dare because it's untrue, or because they'd part with their throats?" she sighed. This was her favorite, the one she had chosen and saved for this very night. It was simple in shape, a stiff-collared hanfu that swept and trailed along the floor. A delicate hue of pearl, a waterfall of soft fabric, a band of dark pink about her waist; its beauty lie not in its design but in the details. Every inch of the hanfu had ghosts of flowers, phoenixes, hues of fire and wisps of smoke. It was an ethereal dress, and she felt very earthly. "Dai Ju was always so beautiful."

"Your mother?" the hyena kept his voice carefully deadpan. His mistress had always been a bit… unpredictable whenever her mother was brought into conversation.

"She may have been a horrible mother, but she was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Even to this day, I remember her from my cubhood. No matter the season, the most beautiful white blossoms would appear near her feet." She lifted the hem of her gown and dropped it, dissatisfied. "Whenever my father would tell me about her, he always said that she outshone the moon, and the flowers would hide their faces in shame whenever she walked by."

"That is quite incredible, milady." Adisa did not know where she was leading with this description of her mother, slightly alarmed that Lixue had willingly brought the subject up at all.

"If there's anything I wish I had inherited from my mother, it would be her grace." Lixue ran her fingers down her body in an almost sensual way, careful to avoid catching the silk with her claws. "You can dress me up in as much finery as the world has to offer, but at the end of the day, you are dressing a tiger in peacock feathers and no matter how beautiful it may be, it is still a tiger." She smirked. "She was a tiger too, but if she decided she was a peacock, she was a peacock, and she would show colors more brilliant and beautiful than even the heavens could offer."

"You forget, mistress," Adisa stood, brushing his legs free of imaginary dirt and coming to look at the tigress in the mirror. "The tiger's stripes belong to the tiger alone. Would you deny yourself of your own beauty in favor of someone else's?"

"I suppose that depends on whose idea of beauty it is." She lowered her eyes from those of her reflection.

The sun had begun its trek into sleep, the moon's face unseen and waiting behind the curtain of sunlight for the performance to begin.

_Deep the current runs, impossibly swift and dark, hidden beneath glass._

oOxXxOo

"Good evening, Lady Xing," Lord Minami bowed to the tigress, a gesture she returned to him. He held out his hand for her. "The night has yet to begin. Would you care to drink some tea with me while we wait for the others to arrive?"

Lixue reminded herself to keep her shoulders back. "Yes, thank you." She scanned the room. "Where is everyone?"

"Most of them simply like to be fashionably late, so to speak," he chuckled, the handsome material of his hakama reflecting the shades of autumn as he sat across from the tigress. A servant brought forth a pot of tea, pouring it for the nobility before bowing themselves away. He lifted the cup to his lips, watching the tigress with clear brown eyes as she gently blew on it to help it cool. "The trouble with that is that they make the party wait for them. Of course, I assume you mean Lord Sesshomaru. His lordship will be the last to arrive, to allow as many of us as possible to bow in greeting and adoration to him."

"That seems unfair to say, Lord Minami." She set the tea down on the table, and he lifted his eyebrows.

"Oh?"

"I don't think that's what motivates him." She shook her head. "No, if he came last, it would probably be because that's what he witnessed his father doing. Maybe tradition, I don't know. But I _do_ know that if he desired to be openly worshiped, he wouldn't spend most of his time off in the wilderness."

"Ah, but he spends his time in the wilderness with Jaken and the girl." Minami lifted his fingers as he mentioned them. "Both of them adore him, follow him without question, and constantly acclaim him for his strength." He smiled. "And then there's you, my lady."

"Me?" She frowned. "I don't do any of those things. In fact, we fight sometimes."

"From what I've heard, none of those fights have anything to do with the two of you and more to do with circumstances." He shifted his weight, his shoulders trading heights as he did so. Lixue couldn't help but notice that despite his youthful appearance, he was definitely filled out, speaking to the few centuries of age he held above her. "The most recent and notable of which being the Lady Honoka."

He snorted, catching the slight dilation of her eyes at the mention of the dog. "Yes, that one. A most _interesting_ rumor." He gestured to her tea. "That should be cooled enough to drink, my lady. Hearsay goes that a group of Chinese demon hunters were hired by his lordship's half-brother, who hunted down and killed a Chinese man-eating demon. But here's where it gets interesting – that very same demon, which had died keeping a _human_ girl safe, her body disappears and then appears here at the castle, stronger than when she had died. I assume that it was you, my dear lady. Lord Sesshomaru, who rarely steps to either side for others, not only had brought you back to life but took you to his home to help you recover. _Then,_ without your knowledge, Lady Honoka appears and then, when you attempt to leave, she accuses you of illicit relations with his lordship and forces you to leave where you have been an honored guest. She follows you from the castle and attacks you. _That_ is when you fight Lord Sesshomaru, who seems to have taken her favor over yours, and allows Honoka to escape to the castle. Not a day after you have departed, Lady Honoka is seen escorted from the castle and from the lands of the West, but you do not return. Before your appearance, it had been assumed that both of you had been rejected by his lordship, yet here you are."

Minami looked to either side, noticing the attention of those who had not heard the story. Lixue gripped her hands tightly and focused on the light reflecting from the surface of her untouched tea.

"So you see, my lady, you have _not _fought Lord Sesshomaru. While it seems that the exact limits of your power are not known, you defer to him whenever he speaks. He has moved you to the room bordering his, you have died protecting his human girl, and one must only assume that he has made requests of you in the past that have allowed you to remain in his good graces. With all respect, my lady, you worship him."

"Minami." The stag jumped as Sesshomaru's voice rumbled from behind him. "You will quiet your tongue."

Lord Minami bowed hastily. "Yes, my Lord. No offense was intended, just a friendly argument."

Sesshomaru ignored him, walking past him to stand over Lixue, who had yet to lift her eyes. Her claws fisted on her lap, and he could smell the anger she held coiled hard in her muscles. He looked again at Lord Minami, who swallowed. "It would appear that you have offended, Minami."

"Apologies, Lady Xing." Lord Minami bowed to her, but when he reached for her hand to bow more personably over it, she jerked away and stood up in a single, swift motion, bumping the table and provoking the china to clatter.

"Save it." She turned to the retreating form of Sesshomaru, noticing his white attire – devoid of armor, decorated sparsely with his hallmark flower crest, reflecting the firelight as to almost glow; he wore the Japanese finery with grace. It seemed odd to see him in anything other than his usual outfit, and she willed herself to look away from him.

"Please, my lady." Lord Minami held in his hand a peculiar glittering gourd that smelled of sake. "Do not be angry with me for simply providing stimulating conversation. Come, join me in the ceremonial sake to begin the celebration while our host sees to the preparations!" She grunted at the ridiculous grin he sported for her, waving the gourd about with jubilance. He was just too likeable.

"What ceremony, then?" She inquired. The room that she had thought to be where the dance would take place was coated with low tables and cushions in mountains. Demons lounged or sat and drank from the same glittering gourds that Minami had mysteriously produced, in various and advanced stages of inebriation. More trickled in every minute, some coming in with the gourds already in their possession and others having one brought to them. A few had tea instead on their tables, but they were few and far between. The majority did not seem as interested in conversation as she and Minami had been, but giving the air of drinking to pass the time more quickly.

"Ah, we drink the Nectar of the Heavenly Flowers," he chortled. "That's what they like it to be called. It's a very special brew of sake just for this very occasion, the Dance of the Harvest Moon! Everybody loves it, and the dogs always had the best recipe for it."

"Oh," she breathed as Minami reached behind him and produced another gourd, handing it to her with a low sloshing and told her to drink up.

"It's part of the fun, to get the real experience of it," he drank deeply, and she uncorked the top of her gourd, peering into its blackness and only met by a sudden exhale of alcohol-tinted air, trapped for who knows how long. She blinked, eyes watering slightly, and took an experimental sip. It was surprisingly sweet, thick and viscous, drastically different than what one would expect from sake. _Almost like… nectar. Ha. _She tilted the gourd back as Minami did, pulling it free of its entrapment with thirsty gulps.

"That's the way, milady!" he hiccupped softly, a bit farther along than she had given him credit for. "Catch up to the rest of us by the time it gets dark, will you? Lord Sesshomaru has the dubious honor of the largest portions, being host of the party and all, _hehehe_," Lord Minami descended into almost girlish giggles as he tripped and landed squarely in the lap of a very displeased but plastered otter, who could do nothing more than grumble and flail while the stag regained his footing.

"Were you drinking before our conversation? You're very good at hiding it. Wait, Sesshomaru drinks too?" Lixue swiveled her head around to find him, the edges of her vision just ever so slightly out of sync. "Also, what happens at dark?"

"That's when the _real party_ begins," Minami gave up on trying to stand up and pressed his lips to his gourd again. Lixue took this as an opportunity to taste some more of her nectar too.

oOxXxOo

The partygoers trickled outside into the gardens as the sunset came to an end, the last languishing rays of light illuminating the masterful damage control by the gardeners – save for some freshly turned dirt and patches of missing flowers (and one tree sporting a few scratches), one might not even know of the battle that had taken place the previous night. Lixue wondered if the gate fared so well.

The grounds had been groomed for the dance, the crowd gathering before a small stage set up against the wall that held a large, empty bowl and a mysterious wooden jug nearly hip-high with oversized handles. As the darkness began to permeate the garden, the sky still tinged pink but the walls blocking the sunlight from entering, the servants began to light the strings of paper lanterns along the walls, releasing some into the air, enchanted into floating just overhead. Lixue reached above her, claws barely shy of feeling its heat as it drew away from her muddled curiosity.

She purred as she watched it retreat, aware of the stripes swimming lazily against her skin. She resisted, not wishing to hear another of Adisa's stern admonishments that she keep herself in check for once. Minami huffed next to her, and she leaned her head over to look at him. She blinked and focused as she realized that the crimson fur poked out in tufts around the collar of his kimono, his hands already disappeared into keratinous hooves. He smiled at her, and she giggled at how adorable his deer-nose looked on his human face. As she looked about her, the other guests were in various states of transition, all waiting anxiously for the sun to set. She relaxed and allowed her stripes to surface, amused by the sudden interest Minami had taken in her arms.

From her position near the center of the crowd, she found herself jostling with the others in anticipation as the musicians began to set up on the edge of wall, facing where preparations had been made for a bonfire. She liked where this was going. She spied the brilliant white and mokomoko of Sesshomaru over the shoulders of those in front of her and she caught her breath, coughing ever so slightly as she accidentally swallowed the air.

Sesshomaru stepped up onto the dais, a strange mixture of quiet and anxious fidgeting spearing the crowd. He swept his gaze over them, all eyes on him as the final dregs of sunlight seeped out of the sky and the first stars began to shine. He crossed to the jug and flipped it onto its head with effortless grace, what she had assumed to be handles forming a spout. He sliced the jug's seal, the nectar within sparkling as it arced into the shallow bowl. He then lifted his head, and Lixue's tiger began to strain for freedom as he shifted.

She had never witnessed his adult transformation, finding it as poised as the man himself. She was a creature of fire and twisting and exploding into being, but his… his was, in a word, silken. Her fangs lengthened, crowding her mouth as she watched with dilated silver, the nectar promising a primal urge completely foreign to her.

The dog leaned forward, dipping his muzzle in the shimmering sake, lapping it up with his cupped tongue. Sesshomaru pointed his muzzle skyward, rivulets dripping from his fur as he howled.

This seemed to be the cue they had been waiting for – all about her, demons exploded and slithered and burst into being, the bonfire ignited with a mighty blast of fire, the musicians propelling themselves into a harmonious frenzy of drums and flutes. The lanterns swept up into a whimsical dome above them, a warm glow against the cold glitter of starlight.

Lixue's inebriated mind would not allow her to look away from Sesshomaru, resisting her tiger even as it moaned and clamored to be free. His gaze fell on her, an intensity she felt into her toes. Minami bucked in happiness, the kimono he had worn shredding on his carapace. The she-wolf breezed before her, breaking her entranced state with a flick of her tail into Lixue's face. _See how beautiful I am?_

As naturally as breathing, the tigress turned, swiveling her body after the wolf and falling to her fours, twists of blue flame darting over her body as she changed. Youkai shuffled out of her berth as she began to dwarf them, some openly staring. Minami, who had been too busy cavorting on his own, only realized that she had shifted when he accidentally slammed sidelong into her foreleg and he sprawled.

The tigress thundered without malice, wading amongst the others in her race's easy grace as she joined them, stepping into the bonfire and licking the flames with her hooked tongue. _Such delicious heat. _Roaring, she lifted her head and for a few brief moments, the fire was a column of contained destruction, twisting in reds and oranges and bright, flickering blue. Her spirit spread, and soon her voice was joined with yips and growls, bears and hippos and cats and dogs. She let the fire fly into nothingness and stepped from the coals, her footsteps glowing briefly in the dark.

She closed her eyes, the drumbeats' hypnotic power luring her into swinging her body in time with them, heartbeat and heartbeat alike; disorganized and cacophonic, the youkai danced, a feral dance swelling in number with every round about the fire. Minami leapt before her, above her, breath freezing the air into gusts of crystalline opal; the boar princess danced backwards before her, masterfully hooking her tusks, delicately in time with the tigress' footfalls; the she-wolf twisted between everyone and nobody at all, her grace pronounced in the curve of her leg and arch of her back; dozens of demons snaking together and winding apart, tilting in the tigress' moon-addled brain as a circle of spirits dancing.

Lixue swung her head and lifted it higher, finding the dynamic changed and opening her eyes to see not the soft-eyed gaze of the boar but the steady and intense stare of Sesshomaru before her. She stepped in time, his head dipping for hers as she began to lead with her side, pressing their flanks together as the circle spun. She felt him rumble in irritation as she pressed too hard, his balance disrupted by his absent limb; he leaned away in compensation. She pressed again as he did so, slipping her own shoulder under where his ended and providing the stability to keep him close. She swung her hindquarters away, leaning her chin on his shoulder as they created smaller circles within the circle of dancing. Sesshomaru rested his own head on her back, allowing her to remain as she was.

Their dynamic shifted that of those around them; the frenzied celebration and become more solid, mates and friends, strangers and drunks. She breathed in his scent as they leaned together, her heart pounding unnaturally hard in her ears and painfully aware of every time she swallowed. Her eyelids came together and she absorbed it all, the sweet wavering of the strings and drums, the plush fur burying her face up to her eyes, his warmth and the comforting weight of his head on her back. Her flames, spread against his chest, did not harm him. _They never will. _

The tune became familiar, a melodious phantom, and her relaxed whiskers began to strain and tremble as she tried to hunt down from where she knew it. Sesshomaru gripped her more tightly with his head, rubbing his face along the back of her neck in long, lazy motions. His chest began to vibrate, and she swiveled her ears back to hear him more clearly. He sang softly the tune she had forgotten, softly so as only she could hear him. Just for her.

The moon traveled across the sky, a slow trek the demons danced in time to, the fire dying through time's passing until only coals burned in the ashes. The music died away until a lone musician played, a sweet melody as the exhausted partygoers dipped into sleep in the grass.

Lixue and Sesshomaru curled together, tucked into each other's bodies and breathing in the breath of the other. Piles of youkai pressed against them, warmth and companionship in the sweet dark in the night of the Harvest Moon.

_Breathe in the starlight, to the sky breathe out your soul. We dance, eternal. _

oOxXxOo

Lixue awoke slowly, and had she not been gifted with rapid healing as most demons are, she would have experienced a hangover – however, being the demon that she was, she was permitted to wake up feeling no different than normally. Demons slumbered about her, Sesshomaru's bulk leaning against her side and his muzzle resting on her spine. The sun had risen well and truly into the sky, its heat scant in the late autumn chill.

Minami had curled himself up between the mantle of fur on her shoulders and her foreleg, just large enough to prop her head up on his back. His head was tucked between his knees, the bouquet of antlers protruding from the waves of striped maltese fur. She groaned and stretched, demons slipping and falling from her back like drunken rocks onto the grass. Sesshomaru growled, resisting her movement and placing a paw on her to keep her still, but she was having none of it. She swiped half-heartedly at him, keeping her claws sheathed, but she made her point and he released her.

She padded to the castle tower, shifting at the last moment just as her fire had begun to stir. It slumbered as she did, as much a part of her as her stripes. She rubbed her fangs with her finger, finding them uncomfortably fuzzy and her body feeling a bit grungy. _I suppose I shall avail myself of the baths before the others wake up._ Some of the partiers had done a bit of a more _personal_ dance on the fringes of the firelight, and she did not particularly care for bathing with the remnants of said dances.

Dropping by her room to pick up a change of clothes, she simply smiled to herself when she found Adisa and Rin asleep near the window, having dozed off while watching the party. They had become fast friends, and she had the sneaking feeling that the increase of mishaps in the palace had everything to do with them. This suspicion was not appeased at all with the number of times they had been whispering and stopped as soon as she had appeared.

Sneaking out of the bedchamber where the odd couple dozed, Lixue padded barefoot to the bathhouse. Pleased to find that she was alone, the demoness sank into the opaque water and blew bubbles from her nose in pleasure.

Resurfacing, she reclined against the natural stone of the bathhouse wall with a sigh. _I haven't really had any time to myself since I got here. It's been so damn busy between Naraku's plot and Inuyasha and the moon and the… right… the kiss. And the lilies. _She touched her lips, remembering again the soft bite of his poisonous kiss.

She rolled onto her stomach, lazily kicking her feet in the water. The heat bubbled pleasantly against her skin, and she breathed in the steam gratefully. _I wonder what I am to Sesshomaru. It seems like he could have his pick of mates, if that wolf's constant posturing has anything to do with it. What is he to me for that matter? Familiarity? He's all I have left from my past, really, besides Adisa – and he didn't come around until just a few decades ago. _She rolled over again, dipping her head under the water and scrubbing her scalp with her claws. _Maybe he's just proving to himself that he can have anybody, even if they don't ask for him. Maybe I'm a way to show that the great Lord Sesshomaru can do as he pleases, and can mate with a torayoukai, no matter what anyone else says. That doesn't really explain how he acts when we're alone, though. He'd be more extravagant in public, but as it is, he hardly gives me a passing word. Would he always be that way to me if I were to be his mate? …Do I even want to be with him? I enjoy his company more than any other, but is that enough? _

_My responsibilities are in China, and he is here. What would we do for living? I take to the battlefield, and if he were my mate, I presume he would be there too. What about Rin? Wargrounds are no place for a little girl to grow up. I can't be in Japan year-round, leaving my home to fend for itself. It would fall in a matter of years. He can't leave his ancestral home, especially not with the human samurai wandering everywhere and the lords squabbling over land. China's no better, not with my fairly recent takeover of the southeast. If I were to have him there with me, or even if I were here, how would we handle new suitors? As a tiger, it would be expected for me to take more than one mate, and as a dog, he would never allow it. Would I even want another mate? I don't even really want one now. _

_…I kind of want Sesshomaru._

She groaned, a stream of large bubbles from her mouth shuddering as they floated to the surface. _This is too damn hard. _

Her contemplations were halted by another woman stepping into the baths. Lixue appeared from under the water, grinning at the other's wheezing coughs of surprise as she surfaced, earning herself a glare after the youkai had recovered. She was passingly familiar, but Lixue didn't care for conversation. She left, sashaying pompously for no real reason other than to sashay.

oOxXxOo

Sesshomaru found her later that day, approaching as silently as ever while she and Adisa played hide and seek with Rin in the castle. Lixue had been listening very carefully for the shriek of discovery, squished between two kimono cases on the wall and just above the girl's head level, when Sesshomaru's face appeared before her. Uncharacteristically taken by surprise, Lixue squeaked and jumped, smacking her head against the top of her hiding spot.

"Fu- Sesshomaru!" She hissed, the corners of his eyes lifting slightly in signs of equally uncharacteristic amusement. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Your Adisa would disapprove of you dirtying such a lovely outfit."

"Adisa can suck it. What do you want? You'll give my hiding spot away." She scowled, in equal parts irritated by being surprised and by her thoughts earlier in the bath. His humor darkened.

"How long were you planning to stay?"

"Are you asking me to leave?" Her irritation gave way to a slight twinge of hurt.

"No. If this Sesshomaru wanted you to leave, I would have told you to leave, not asked you how long you were planning to stay."

"Well, um," she waffled. She hadn't really thought about it. "When are the others leaving?"

"By this evening, they will all be gone."

"Ah. Well, how long do you want me to stay for?"

"You will not answer my question with another question."

"Fine." She shifted as much as she could, still crammed into the shelving on the wall. "I could leave today if that would please you."

"It would not please me."

"Oh?" Bits of dust flew up into her nose, and she sneezed. "Excuse me. Well, um, how about a week?"

Sesshomaru didn't answer, but she got the distinct feeling that he wasn't happy with that answer either.

"Too long? Give me something here, Sesshy."

"Stay through summer."

_Um, what? _"Sesshomaru, that's the better part of a year. I can't stay away from home that long."

"Send Adisa."

She snorted. "Like he could handle it. His strengths are in being behind the scenes, not on the throne. He'd get bored and try something stupid and time-consuming and then another toad moves in."

Sesshomaru glared at her.

"Well, okay, um. How about until spring? That's the rest of fall, and all of winter." _Adisa isn't going to be happy about me running off from duty again… ha. Let him squirm. I'm the empress, aren't I? _

"…this is acceptable." Sesshomaru turned on his heel and left, allowing the tigress to shove herself back into her hiding spot.

**A/N: This took me so long to write, so expect a bonus chapter in the middle of the week as a reward for your patience. **


	24. Why the West Wears White

_Chapter Twenty-Four: Why the West Wears White_

**A/N: As promised, here's the bonus chapter. It will be considerably shorter due to its bonus status (you want a regular chapter on Saturday, don't you?). Please, enjoy! **

Rin perched on the edge of Lixue's bed as the demoness braided the still-damp strands of the girl's hair. She had shooed Adisa away, desiring a bit of time alone with the human. She had yet to tell Adisa that she was staying, and he had been displaying signs of restlessness over the last few days as they lingered. She deftly picked a white length of cloth and wove it into the dark hair she twined around her claws. When she finished, she handed the girl the mirror to see her handiwork.

"You look good in white," Lixue pointed out. "Why doesn't Sesshomaru get you more white things to wear?"

"Lord Sesshomaru probably doesn't want me to get it dirty," the girl responded. She smiled at her reflection, making faces in the mirror.

"You'd think that since it's the color of his house, you'd be required to have at least one bit of white on you," the tigress mused.

"But Li-san, the house isn't all white," the girl smiled. "It's got brown wood and the stones are gray."

"No, I mean the West," Lixue took the mirror away from the girl and gestured to the bedroll. "Don't you know why he wears white all the time?"

Rin shrugged before crawling under the covers next to the demoness. "Because his hair is white?"

"That's a good guess, but no, that's not why." Lixue blew out the candle, waiting for the girl to snuggle comfortably in the makeshift nest before continuing. "It's because of the Four Gods of Heaven and Earth. It's the same story for both China and Japan, but the names are different. Do you want to hear about Byakko?"

"Mhmm!" Rin nodded firmly against the tiger's ribcage.

"The four seasons and the five elements are presided over by five mythological creatures.

"The East is presided over by the azure dragon, Qinglong. In Japanese he is known as Seiryu. He is affiliated with the season of spring and the element of wood. The vermilion bird, Zhuque or Suzaku, is of the South, summer, and fire. The West, autumn, and the element of metal is presided over by the white tiger Baihu, or Byakko. The North is the holding of the black tortoise Xuanwu, or Genbu, and he represents winter and the element of water. The yellow dragon of the center, Huanglong or Kirin, represents the element of earth and has no season.

"The white tiger Byakko was the king of all beasts and the lord of the mountains, the god of war and righteousness. He would only appear if the emperor ruled with absolute virtue or if there was peace throughout the world. He observed the world and protected Buddha's teachings and mankind; his coat shone brighter than snow, and when he did battle, his body turned to metal and nothing could harm him or those he protected. White jade symbols with his image were given to the commanders of armies to invoke his protection. When a virtuous leader was laid to rest with metal to connect ceremoniously with Byakko's spirit, after three days the metal would take the tiger's shape and crouch over the grave, forever defending it from evil spirits and demons who would feed on the dead."

She took a moment to gauge the girl, the faint light more than enough for her to see Rin fighting sleep… and losing soundly, her head dipping every few moments and her eyelids dropping.

"The reason Sesshomaru wears white is because the house of the West is under the cardinal direction and protection of Byakko. I believe that his father walked closely with Byakko, preserving his lands and his loved ones until his death. Even now, with the aid of his fangs, he guides his sons." Lixue breathed out, listening to the small creature breathe beside her. Rin had fallen asleep. "The West is safe so long as its rulers wear white."


	25. Tarsong

_Chapter Twenty-Five: Tarsong_

**A/N: Yay! Mostly on time! This chapter is best read to "My Home is Your Head" by Joseph Arthur and the website rainymood… google it… when the storm starts. I heard it on Pandora while I was writing the scene and it went fabulously. Even if you're not into the song, still use Rainy mood. Rainy mood goes with everything.**

"Stop being so dramatic, Adisa. It's just one season. At least this time you'll know where I am," Lixue swung her legs casually as she sat in the tree above the irate hyena.

"I didn't like it then and I don't like it now. The fact that you're not under duress from a maniac with a mirror is all the more reason for you _not_ to leave your lands unattended, not an excuse to traipse about the planet." He crossed his arms, glaring daggers at his mistress in a rare act of defiance.

"I'll do as I please, thank you very much." She plucked off a browning leaf and threw it at the demon below her. "Wasn't it you that told me to get out of the castle and stop being mopey? Well I'm out of the castle."

"You know perfectly well that I meant to get out of the castle and tend to your lands, not run off to Japan."

"I didn't 'run off' anywhere," she growled. "I was blackmailed into coming. I just don't want to leave yet. Besides, you're not my nursemaid. You're my retainer."

"Do you really think it's a good idea to stay here? Beyond Lord Sesshomaru, you have _no_ allies, _no_ army, and _no_ resources. The nobility see you as unrefined and thanks to Naraku, you're not only that but also dirty! Impure! Do you think that would have happened if you had the good sense to stay where you'd be _protected_?!"

Adisa cut himself short and insolently stared at his mistress, who had gone completely still and fixed him with twin coals. His willpower flagged when he heard her growl, the sunlight reflecting off of the saliva on her fangs as she bared them.

When she spoke, her eyes bled the color of anger, and her stripes erupted into jagged lines on her face.

"**Leave**, Adisa. Go to China this instant." She slid from the tree, eyes fixed on his, effortless grace and carnivorous anger. "If you _dare_ to speak to me that way again, I will strip your skin from your body and use it as a decorative _rug_." She toed up to him, the taller demon shrinking under her heat. "You will leave and you will remember your place. Am I _understood?_"

Adisa could only nod and bow, flinching as she brushed past him, shifting in her anger and leaping over the wall, clearing the massive defenses as though they were hills of pebbles and landing in a swirl of fire. The tigress stalked away, head slung low in anger and the sun reflecting from her silvered coat until she slipped into the trees and disappeared from view.

oOxXxOo

Sesshomaru stared into the darkness of the forest where her scent led, his thoughts his own. Adisa did not say why she had sent him away, only that he must leave immediately on her orders.

The sky was beginning to darken with the promise of a storm, lightning beginning to spark between the clouds. He wondered when she would return.

oOxXxOo

Lixue strode through the trees away from the setting sun. She could hear the thunder above her, and the slate tiger lifted her head to gaze between the leaves of the canopy into the swirling clouds overhead. She scented the air, tail curling up as she thought about returning to the castle. In the rain, he would lose her scent, and this did not seem to be the sort of storm to come or leave with a whimper.

_Do you think that would have happened if you'd had the good sense to stay where you're protected?_

She growled to herself. _I don't need you, Adisa. I don't need Sesshomaru. I'm fine on my own._

She lowered her head and walked on.

oOxXxOo

The rain came quickly and viciously. She left the trees, desiring its bite and chill in her skin, needing its abuse to shake out her anger. She rumbled to the thunder and blinked hard against the lightning, the torrential downpour dampening and extinguishing her flame with hisses. The failing of her fire never hurt her, its absence casting her form into deeper shadow as she paced further into unfamiliar ground.

The mud formed quickly in the autumn rain, the tigress sloshing through the rain and coating her fur up to her chest. She felt the thick mixture running down her legs as she walked, shaken free by her motion and the gallons of water coursing over her body. She focused inward, caring not where she was going. She found herself following an overgrown mountain trail, too far from the castle to even see the tower despite her climbing height. The sun had disappeared beyond the clouds, but she knew that it had long set. The darkness didn't bother her.

Her shoulders brushed the limbs of the trees, shaking and bending their arms in her passing. She heard the chattering of teeth and stopped, gazing beside her at the side of the road. Water streamed between her feet toward lower ground, the easiest course being that of the path, and in the damp darkness a pair of humans huddled. Mates. They could not see her for the rain, trying in vain to get a patch of wet leaves to light for warmth against the chill and wet. She watched as they tried again and again, sheltering the leaves against more rain and leaning against each other to share their heat.

The woman began to cough, and the demoness scented blood despite the rain. Lixue felt a strange stirring in her heart as the man ushered her close, a twinge of longing as he held her tightly. It would do no good for the woman to be held, except for comfort. The tigress, close enough to touch, flared her fire to reveal herself to the humans in a swathe of blue light. They gasped, the woman beginning to cough again and the man clutching her possessively. Lixue bent forward, passing over their bodies with her head to breathe on the leaves. They dried within the space of a breath, and with a drip of her saliva, they burst into light. Life. She drew her head up away from the fire, holding it regally above her shoulders and her ghostly fire silently burning. The humans seemed unsure of what to make of the demon-eyed tiger who had helped them, staring between her and the fire she had given them.

It was so small, but to them, it seemed to be so much.

The demon turned and walked into the shadow, enveloping herself in darkness once again, the blue flame disappearing as though it had never been.

Higher the tigress climbed, the path becoming rockier and wild with every crescendo she made in the mountain's face. The storm showed no sign of stopping, and the creature did not either, pushed forward by an instinctive desire to be free. She found far on the pinnacle of the mountain the silhouette of what appeared to be a village, and mystified by its presence despite the path's years of neglect, she changed her heading into its direction.

A flash of light and a muted explosion in its border surprised the tigress into crouching, stalking forward with purpose and curiosity; the lightning had been innocent. Something else was at work and she intended to see what.

Circling around the back of the village to the cliff above, Lixue utilized the rain's cover to creep forward to peer over the edge of the cliff. Mud streamed from her body onto the rocky surface, her body blending into the gray shadows.

_Oh Kami. Them again._ Lixue let out a sigh of disappointment as she recognized the loud white and green outfit of the young miko Kagome, her shouts unintelligible in the rain. She clutched the kit to her chest, screaming something to Inuyasha, who didn't seem to be in immediate view. Miroku and Sango were nowhere to be found, either. She rested her head on her paws, watching nonchalantly as Kagome scurried to the other side of the village.

Lixue lifted her head in curiosity as she noted the deep shade of red staining the miko's arm. Kagome did not seem to be hurt, however. Was it the kit's blood on her sleeves? Another explosion in the village as a dilapidated hut burst into twigs, and Inuyasha burst forth, brandishing his father's fang in a rage she hadn't ever seen from him before. Lixue's claws emerged and gripped the stone as she recognized the dainty form of Kagura dancing out of the way of the Wind Scar, her sway over wind giving her a measure of immunity to it. Inuyasha screamed profanities at her, pouncing in every spot that she occupied and destroying it utterly. Kagome laid the kit on the ground, begging him to open his eyes. Shippou did not move.

Lixue began to creep forward, sliding gently down the slope toward her prey.

Kagome began to laugh while she cried, a sound of relief as Shippou began to stir. Inuyasha rushed to her side to see the kit, ready to tell him off for scaring them like that, when Kagome screamed and fell back from the boy. Kagome clutched her chest as Shippou snarled, his mouth bloody where he had bitten the girl, his neck gaping grossly to his shoulder. She began to weep and screamed when the fox lunged for her again, Inuyasha knocking him away with the back of his fist and demanding to know what had gotten into him and what the hell was going on.

"Don't you see?" Kagura appeared behind Shippou, unwittingly placing herself in the path of the tigress. "I'm using the Dance of the Dead." She flipped her fan open, her back to Lixue. "Too bad he's so useless." She lifted the fan and Shippou lunged for his companions, baring his fangs with a snarl too deep for his chest. Kagome screamed her sobs as she dove behind Inuyasha, who reluctantly sheathed Tessaiga and shoved the sheath into Shippou's fangs, stopping the smaller demon.

It was then that Lixue struck, leaping forward through the rain and igniting her fire. She bared her fangs and her claws, the wind sorceress given barely time to turn before the tiger was upon her. Shippou dropped as the fan did, his body going limp once more. Kagura screeched as the tigress crunched her shin, dragging her toward the waiting fangs. Lixue's focus centered entirely on the very alive prey she held in her grasp, her mouth gaping and streams of fiery saliva dripping down her chin onto the ground. She flipped Kagura onto her back with her claws, pinning her down and scissoring her teeth over the woman's leg; she pulled back carefully, stripping the bones of their muscle and meat into her mouth. Kagura screeched to curdle blood and dug her claws into the tigress' flesh, swiping and kicking and reaching for her fan with bloodied and grasping fingers. Lixue lowered her body into a relaxed position as she took her sweet time, half-ignored by the hanyou and the hysterical miko.

Having devoured the meat from her legs, Lixue gripped the woman's arms below the elbows and pulled, twisting this way and that until they popped and tore free from their sockets in Kagura's shoulder. The prey shook with fear and anger, giant heaves as the tigress stole more of the sorceress' body. She hooked a single fang into Kagura's stomach, catching her intestine and drawing it out slowly as the woman stopped struggling – still alive but eyes glassy as she stared into the night sky, no longer even blinking when the rain hit her face.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Kagome stood, hugging the body of her dead pseudo-son tightly to her chest. "You can't do that to her!"

Lixue blinked, looking up and licking her whiskers free of the blood that beaded on them. "Why can't I?"

"Because it's torture!"

Lixue smiled, a disturbing visage of teeth and bits of gore hanging between her fangs. "Do not apply your human moralities to me, Kagome." She gave a long, languid lick into the open stomach of her foe. "This woman was an incarnation of Naraku and has killed many more than you have witnessed. Inuyasha was having no luck destroying her, but I suppose that if he had, his kills are more justified than mine because they're quick." She scoffed. "He's part human but he's part demon too. Do human standards only apply to him halfway? Tell me, Inuyasha, which part of you is stronger?"

"Just stop it!" She cried. "I can't take any more of this."

"She feels nothing, Kagome. She has gone into shock." The tigress scraped her barbed tongue across the woman's cheek, roughly scraping away the skin and revealing the muscle below. Kagura's chest fell and rose, but she did not react. "If I leave her as she is, she will either regain feeling and die in pain, or she will be revived by Naraku."

Inuyasha strode forward, face unreadable, drawing his sword. Lixue waited in curiosity to see what he would do. He stared up into the demoness' face before bringing his sword down, severing Kagura's head from her body in a smooth stroke.

Lixue smiled again, keeping her fangs covered as she returned Inuyasha's hard stare. "You are proving to be a most interesting observation, Inuyasha." She twisted her head, picking up the demoness' body and swallowing it, ensuring that she also swallowed the head and crushed the fan between her teeth.

"I didn't do it for you." Inuyasha muttered, his ears drooping in the rain as he looked over his shoulder at Kagome, who wept bitterly. She splayed in the mud carelessly, stroking the child's cheek.

Lixue sat up when Kagome turned to her, expression desperate and eyes wide despite the steady streams of rain intermingling with the tears on her face. "You have to take him to Sesshomaru! He has Tenseiga, he has to help," she curled the boy close to her body and ran toward the tigress. "He won't listen to me or Inuyasha. Please, take us to him!"

"Kagome," Inuyasha held out a hand to Kagome, who shrugged it off.

"Kagome, I don't know that Sesshomaru will help you." Lixue said it as gently as she could, taking no pleasure in the heartbreak in the kind miko's eyes.

"Can't you make him?" Kagome fell to her knees, bowing deeply enough to coat her forehead with bloody mud. "I'm begging you, Lixue, just take us!"

"I…" The tigress took a moment and mentally placed Rin in the place of the kit, reaching a semblance of understanding at the near insane tone of the other woman's pleas. "I cannot guarantee he will help you, but I will take you there." She lowered herself to the ground. "If you prefer, I will take you on my back."

Kagome nodded, biting her lip and thanking the tigress profusely. Inuyasha aided Kagome onto Lixue's back, holding back his comment on her increased size and the new blue fire. He jumped onto the ground, preferring to run on his own in tandem with the tiger.

Lixue turned toward the castle, wondering at her strange predilection for finding things to annoy Sesshomaru with.

oOxXxOo

The great tiger leapt in controlled bursts down the mountain, the volatile surface sliding at the slightest provocation. Kagome's hands alternating between twisting themselves in the fur on Lixue's shoulders and reassuring the boy in her arms that he would be okay. Inuyasha's jumps brought him too close to the tiger's, often making her stop short or overextend. She said nothing, absorbing it as best she could. She ruminated, half-leading them to the castle in the dark and wet.

When they hit level ground, he no longer crossed her feet.

When the castle tower was in dark relief against the clouded moonlight, a shadow against lighter shadow, Lixue halted in surprise; there, soaked through and clearly waiting for her, stood Sesshomaru. He stopped as well, apparently only mildly irritated by the rain but far more irritated that Kagome had slid down from her perch on the tiger's back (no mean feat, as she still stood) had laid the body of a child before her and was kneeling in his path, bowing so far as to coat her forehead in mud and decaying leaves. Inuyasha stood by, agitation and worry marking his stiff movements. He was silent, watching his brother and his miko.

"Please, Lord Sesshomaru, please use Tenseiga to bring Shippou back," Kagome pleaded, her voice clear through the gradually lightening rainfall. "I'm begging you."

Sesshomaru glanced at his half-brother, who had approached Kagome's side, but said nothing. They stared between themselves, and when Sesshomaru continued to do nothing, the hanyou did the unthinkable. Inuyasha lowered himself slowly, painfully, to the ground, sacrificing his pride before his brother.

Kagome looked tearfully up into the taiyoukai's face. "Please."

"No."

"W…what?" Kagome's weak response crept out of her mouth and her eyes were wide with fear. Disbelief.

"What do ya mean, 'No'?!" Inuyasha slid to his feet, the ground slick with mud and deteriorating plant life. "You're the only one who can bring Shippou back, and you say no?"

"It is not my responsibility to bring back every creature that dies due to your incompetence, Inuyasha." He turned back toward the castle. "I suggest you protect the rest of your friends better if you do not wish them the same fate."

"Damn you, Sesshomaru," Inuyasha gripped the hilt of his Tessaiga, glaring at Lixue when she rumbled a warning. "I should have known you wouldn't help us."

"Please, Lixue, make him reconsider," Kagome clutched at the tigress' fur, desperation painting her.

"I had warned you that he may refuse," Lixue responded as softly as she knew how. "I cannot do anything more."

"You have to stop him!"

"I'm sorry, Kagome." Lixue felt the fists release from her fur as the girl cracked, her grief and sorrow tearing out of her throat. Kagome threw herself into Inuyasha's arms, needing his comfort and support, no longer able to stand on her own.

The tigress padded after the dog, glancing behind her at the disappearing caricature of irreparable disillusion.

oOxXxOo

Lixue followed Sesshomaru through the gate, their walk silent. She guessed that he had begun to seek her during the storm, but had no idea why. _I'm capable of handling a little rain. _

More importantly, perhaps, was the question why he refused to bring the kit back. _Is he trying to teach Inuyasha a hard lesson? I suppose that beyond Kikyo, Inuyasha has never really lost anyone under his protection. In a way, he didn't lose her in the end. He travels with her reincarnation, and I think I remember them saying that there's also some sort of risen version of her wandering about. Well, now, wait. He was apparently too young to know when he lost his father, but he has a human mother. Is she still alive? _

She shook her head vigorously. _Humans don't live two hundred years. She probably died while he was young, of old age or something. At least Sesshomaru still has his mother. He also had the opportunity to grow up with his father's guidance. I wonder what he would have thought of Sesshomaru's lessons. _

Sesshomaru came to a stop in the entryway, turning to see why the tigress had stopped. She stood in the rain, staring into the sky with a thoughtful expression. He waited only a few minutes more before going indoors, understanding that while her body had returned, her spirit still wandered.

The tigress stayed awake through the night, lying in the broken spears of grass and trying to pick out the image of the moon in the clouds.

oOxXxOo

The rain broke as the sunlight did, the demoness chilled through and frost spidering across her fur. She rested with her head on her paws, her eyes glassing in an unfocused stare as she remained in thought. She blinked and came back to herself as Sesshomaru stepped in her view.

"You are not meant to be covered in ice."

She attempted to speak, finding her mouth stiff and her voice raspy. She cleared her throat and tried again. "No, I suppose I'm not."

"You stayed out all night in the rain."

"I did."

He continued to look at her, and she realized he meant it more as a question than an observation. "I had a lot to think about, and I didn't want you to come find me again, if that's what you were doing last night."

"Thinking is just as easily done indoors as out."

"I like to wander. Does this bother you or something, me being out here all icy?"

"Yes."

"Oh." She did not expect him to be so forthcoming. "Well… oh. I could… go take a bath, I guess."

"Hnn."

Sesshomaru did not leave, shifting his weight almost imperceptibly as he seemed to have an inner dialogue. The tigress perked her ears, waiting patiently to see what it was he was going to say. Or do.

He opened his mouth, changed his mind, then left to go back into the main tower of the castle.

_Well, I guess I won't know for a while yet. _

oOxXxOo

Lixue sank into the luxurious heat of the bath, scratching her back against the edges of the stone and stretching. When she had first entered her quarters to get her change of clothes, she wondered at Adisa's absence before remembering his comment the day before. Her skin prickled in a ghost of raising hackles until she regained her composure. She knew he had meant well, pushing her into realizing what he meant, but the wounds were too fresh.

Now, in the languid steam that crept along the surface of the water, she breathed and fought the heaviness of her eyelids. _I think I should be upset at Sesshomaru's refusal to help Kagome and Inuyasha, but I'm… okay with it. If I were him, I wouldn't just hand out resurrections either. Everyone would be coming around at all hours if they knew that I had the power to reverse death. That one thing that is permanent, forever, would then simply become a suspension of life. Someone would invariably decide they need it more than me and then you have more fighting, more dying, to be able to bring people back to life. I suppose in the hands of an army, it essentially doubles your size. _

_I can't help but feel that I should be upset about it. Even though I'm not. Just because it's his brother? He hates his brother. Or something. It's so hard to tell with them. _

Lixue tried to puzzle out the relationship between the brothers but soon quit, finding it much too complicated for her tastes.


End file.
